The great day has arrived. Today something historic will happen.
No, we don’t expect common sense to prevail today at the Rules Committee meeting. We don’t expect the voters of Florida and Michigan will have the votes they cast, as they cast them, respected or counted.
But something else, will happen.
That something is what Nancy Pelosi, the Katherine Harris of this election cycle, fears most. That something is what Howard Dean, author of the 48 state strategy fears most. That something is what Donna Brazille fears most, That something is what Barack Obama fears most.
* * *
Recall the arguments that Obama used to make. “To know me is to love me” Obama would say. ‘My supporters won’t vote for Hillary but Hillary supporters will vote for me’.
Now Obama knows better.
In many quarters, to know Obama is to loathe him. In poll after poll, state after state what is clear is that Hillary supporters – women, latinos, white working class voters, rural voters, African-American Hillary supporters – will NOT vote for Obama under any circumstances.
Yet, smart people like Celinda Lake (and dummies in Big Media) continue to make the argument that Hillary Clinton supporters will “come home” to the Democratic Party no matter who the nominee is. These usually smart people are betting that Democrats will be force fed “unity” and will eventually vote for the nominee of the Democratic Party based on issues.
[We will resume our series Voting For Barack Obama, Part III early this coming week and analyze why Obama cannot be trusted on any issues and why it makes sense to reject Obama - on the issues (abortion, Supreme Court appointees, gay rights, healthcare, Iraq, NAFTA).]
The argument of these usually smart people collapses when we look at what will happen today.
The historic event today will NOT be the Rules Committee meeting.
The historic event today will be the organizing that will take place in advance of November.
In most election cycles, Democrats fall in line and fight for the nominee. In 2004 Dean, Edwards, and Clark supporters all fell in line immediately when it was apparent that Kerry would be the nominee. Kerry won the popular vote and more delegates than all his opponents by far. After March Kerry effectively won every primary by wide margins. Early in the 2004 cycle all Kerry opponents had conceded. Not so in 2008.
In 2008, Hillary will have won the popular vote. Hillary has won the most votes from Democrats. The primary elections continue into June. The candidate – Hillary Clinton – opposed by the Democratic Party establishment and Big Media continues to win, by 40% margins, late primaries. The revulsion, with the force fed on Democrats Obama, grows.
So what historic event will happen today?
The historic event is that the majority of Democrats will begin to organize 3 months before the Democratic? convention in opposition to the force fed, Big Media, candidate. 3 months before the Democratic? convention Democrats will be gathering emails and other contact information to fight against the Democratic? Party establishment.
Today networks of Hillary supporters from all parts of the United States will meet and organize and plan and build lists and circulate millions of emails day after day – 3 months before the Democratic? convention – all without costing a cent.
In late August, the Democratic? convention, 3 months before the general election, will be forced to vote to disenfranchise the voters of 2 very big and very important swing states.
Today, the Hillary Clinton army will make it clear that there will be no November “unity”, no “healing” without Hillary at the Helm.
* * *
The Rules Committee meets today, May 31, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The meeting will be at the Marriott-Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington D.C.
Hillary Supporters will rally at 7:00 a.m. (ET) until about 4:00 p.m. outside the hotel.
C-SPAN will broadcast the Rules Committee live. Broadcast starts at 9:30 a.m. (EST). Watch online HERE
Before the Rules Committee broadcast, C-SPAN will host a call in program on Washington Journal. The call-in program will be from 7:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.
Washington Journal: Support Democrats (202) 737-0002,
Washington Journal: Support Pres. Bush (202) 737-0001,
Washington Journal: Support Others (202) 628-0205
Congressman Robert Wexler will represent Obama from 7:15-7:30 a.m.
From 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. Gordon Trowbridge of the Detroit News will answer questions.
From 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. Congresswoman Corrine Brown of Florida will speak on behalf of Hillary Clinton.
“>Obama not getting the votes of Hillary supporters.
TELL IT ADMIN…
FREEDOM! FREEDOM!
in keeping with this theme,
this was a cute post by susan at noquarter:
***********************************************
Hey, Mom, How Come All the Obama People Are Demanding Unity, Mom?” »
By SusanUnPC
– my 25-year-old beautiful daughter asked me today.
“I thought our country was founded on the principle that people should have DIFFERENT views and be for DIFFERENT people and ideas,” she said.
I thought about it for a second, and replied:
“Maybe that’s why our founding fathers created different branches of government …”
My daughter interrupted:
“YES, mom! So they could have different views and disagree with each other and keep each other from having absolute power!”
… I dunno. I just thought I’d mention that my daughter has figured out that unity is not all it’s cracked up to be. That in fact DISunity is what makes this country greater than most.
And the last time people tried to shove that UNITY B.S. down my throat, it was the pro-war Bush-supporters of the Iraq war who said it was unpatriotic not to be united entirely behind our president and to support his elective war.
Which makes the Obama followers pretty much like the lockstep Bush followers. In my book.
GIVE ‘EM HELL, HAROLD ICKES and ALL OF HRC’s EXPERTS! DON’T GIVE ‘EM AN INCH! FIGHT ALL THE WAY! FIGHTING is what makes us GREAT Americans. And UNITING behind an empty suit without the experience or knowledge to be president — who consorts with extremist, anti-American, racist radicals — is just about the most UN-AMERICAN thing I can imagine doing in my entire lifetime as a LOYAL American citizen.
heres a blast from the past:
RICHIE HAVENS SINGING ‘FREEDOM…’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1pMeyy__r0
I guess everyone went to bed early so they can get up early to watch the carnival on C-span!
Excellent and apropo article as usual, Admin. Women are uniting in groups, and groups are uniting together, and together we will prevail.
If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything, as the song goes. We must stand now for the future of America and for the protection of our American Daughters. Just this year alone, it has crystallized in most women’s brains and hearts that we are not as far along as we should be;perhaps we laid the mantle down too long.
With all the misogyny just right out in the open toward Hillary and
vicariously toward each of us, and the YFZ ranch [and I hear there are at least 6 other ranches] making zombie sex slaves out of little girls-baby making machines……..how can our government condone such when we work toward women’s rights in other countries? UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!
ALL THE WAY TO THE CONVENTION!!! I will look for the FDR black shirts in the protest; and our founder of Florida Demands Representation will be one of the rally speakers. I know Jim Hannagan will do an excellent job.
sly and the family stone-
Stand
In the end you’ll still be you
One that’s done all the things you set out to do
Stand
There’s a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you’re going anywhere
Stand
For the things you know are right
It s the truth that the truth makes them so uptight
Stand
All the things you want are real
You have you to complete and there is no deal
Stand. stand, stand
Stand. stand, stand
Stand
You’ve been sitting much too long
There’s a permanent crease in your right and wrong
Stand
There’s a midget standing tall
And the giant beside him about to fall
Stand. stand, stand
Stand. stand, stand
Stand
They will try to make you crawl
And they know what you’re saying makes sense and all
Stand
Don’t you know that you are free
Well at least in your mind if you want to be
Everybody
Stand, stand, stand
woohooo– that is the video I helped make- Mad as Hell playing in the Clinton Supporters count too video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcdnlNZg2iM
I should go to bed soon– got a big day tomorrow a the rally! Night all
Filipino American Caucus for Empowerment (FACE) Pulls Support for Party
hey all
-this is a major group in dem communties esp here in tx-the fillipino american caucus. they decided to pull support for the party bc of its treatment of hillary. statement below. note its addressed to tx dem chair richie bc of his sudden obama backing!
Mr. Richie,
Because of your decision to pre emptively endorse Sen. Obama before the State Party Convention, the Filipino American Caucus for Empowerment (FACE), a long time Democratic Party organization with chapters in the main Texas cities and other parts of the country, will suspend our support for the Democratic Party until after the elections in November.
We have asked our members and members of the Filipino American community to likewise suspend their support to the Party, including cancellation of sustaining memberships for this election cycle. We remain loyal to the Democratic Party but the Party leaders like you have allowed the MSM and the likes of Rush Limbaugh to choose the Democratic Presidential candidate instead of the Democratic rank and file. Enablers like you have allowed the terrible and almost inhuman assault on Sen. Clinton, a loyal Democrat, so Democrats like you should suffer the consequence of your disgusting political opportunism.
*********** (dont want to post name here bc of obamabots)
President, FACE
tex,
fillipinos, do their part, they are a solid voting bloc…
good to hear, i am proud of them tonight.
just as admin stated on this thread, THE FIGHT STARTS TODAY!!!
GEEK,
LOVE THE VIDEO
Hello Daughters (and sons) of the Democratic Revolution! I know I haven’t been around much lately, but I’ve been checking in on you. I love you all for your conviction and faith and passion!
Admin, thank you for your great pieces…always getting the wheels turning in the right direction.
Paul V., I read the previous post and I am so sad for the comments posted on your video. I don’t know why people think it is ok to incite hatred…the veil of civility has been lifted and certain people are letting their ugliness hang out. You are a patriot and don’t let anyone tell you different.
I was so disturbed by Pfleger…I can’t even describe my emotions. The anology of rape was like a personal violation. Just like with Wright, I felt Pflegers words on a visceral level and there is some evil there.
The surrogates out there saying “it wasn’t Obama saying those things and he immediately distanced himself from that priest” are pissing in the wind.
Obama is absolutely unelectable. We won’t forget these things that were said, and Obama cannot distance himself…these are his “peeps”. These are his circle of friends…his “army buddies” in his personal war against the ills of Amerika through a glass darkly.
We are an imperfect country, and we are all imperfect people with an imperfect government. But whites are no more imperfect than blacks or any other race and the sins of the fathers shall not pass to sons & daughters. We are not the enemy. So many caucasians holding deep prejiduce have passed on and fewer and fewer remain. However, it appears racism is being fostered in churches like those in Chicago that won’t let it die. This makes me indescribably sad. It hurts to the core because I so believed with every passing day we were moving beyond racial divisions in this country. Obviously some are not ready to give it up — and shock –they are not all white.
Pfleger is and he should know better than to incite hatred in this way when progress is being made. You can’t force understanding, it has to come by knowing and finding shared values and human experiences — person to person.
Hi Hill friends…
…did anyone else just watch the August-07 repeat of the DNC rules meeting on C-Span where the Florida representatives go to plead their case in front of the DNC…OMG…The DNC, what a bunch of short sighted, pompous twits…they had different members from different states all casting judgement on Florida’s case…Don Fowler from SC was one of the few voices of prophetic reason…and guess who the culprits were…the ones that were not happy with just taking away the 50%…no the two that were the most vocal for taking 100% of the Florida delegates away…you guessed it, Donna Brazile and Ralph Dawson…two very brazen AA Obama supporters…the Fl reps pleaded their case in detail…to no avail…
Fl stated how it was out of their hands and filled in all the details and basically asked the DNC for consideration and mercy…and what did they do…instead of the 50%, they took everything from them…
…after watching that fiasco…where all the condescending powertrippers have now been proven wrong and tomorrow will be forced to retract and repair the colossal damage they have done to the Dem party and the state of Florida…
…after watching how the people in control of the DNC behave, I have just lost all respect for the Democratic Party…a bunch of game players at the expense of the voters…what a disillusioning experience to see them in action…so removed from the will of the voters and so concerned with their ‘rules’ and punishment…Donna Brazile was the worst…she is a loud mouth…and so full of herself…
on another topic…manage to catch the McLaughlin Hour tonight and right out of the mouth of the very conservative Monica Crowley even comes the declarative statement that the Repubs will never do away with Roe v Wade…her explanation was if they didn’t do it with Reagan, they will never do away with Roe in the USA…
for any Obama people that are trying to scare supporters with that Roe v Wade line…forgetaboutit! not going to happen…
I cannot wait for tomorrow’s revolution to begin…
ADMIN…thanks for the great post and terrific Hillary’s army/fans video…I love it…
GEEKLOVE08…I love your video too…thanks
It’s All or Nothing
Posted at 8:05 pm under Uncategorized
There is no acceptable compromise for half-the-delegates vs. no delegates. Florida and Michigan are about basic democratic Rights, not Fake Nazi Totalitarian “Rules” which favor our lanky wanna-be Fuhrer.
Full delegations, and nothing less! We wont recreate 1933, 1968, 2000 and 2004!!!!
I know Hussein0 is stupid, and I needed no proof that his followers in their entirety, are dumber than dumb. Like Hussein0’s allies in Iran and Cuba and North Korea, with whom little Duce wants to chit-chat and resolve Global Problems while incapable of resolving basic domestic issues of voting rights, the Duce’s flocks couldn’t be bothered to even spit in the direction of Solidarity with Florida and Michigan voters. How else do you explain the media’s totalitarian one-sided handling of Florida and Michigan?! How else can you explain to regular Americans, why the only position regularly beamed into our living rooms on FL and MI is 100% pro-Obama and 1000% anti-Democratic!! The Media Hos run an HBO show about Florida in 2000, and then do a no show on 2008. If there was ever a more vile media campaign to steal votes, we are seeing it before our very eyes! Really, do Experts (?) need more proof of MSM manipulation!?
What gives? Reinstating FL and MI delegations now, rather than in August, will enrich Hussein as it enriches Clinton. It’s not as if she gets the votes, and he doesn’t. There is always the Edwards residue, from Florida. Then the “uncommitted” charade from Michigan.
Unless of course, we follow the rules as inerrently as the little Nazis running roughshod over Michigan and Florida’s electorate claim to be doing right now. Those rules, state that “Uncommitted” means… guess what ignorant Obamasluts – it means “uncommitted”! If your Fuhrer-Messiah takes his name off the ballot, in solidarity not with voters, but poorly interpreted and understood draconian DNC rules, then why should “uncommitted” suddenly become “Obama”? Or are Obamadorks suggesting that the “rules” suddenly don’t matter? Ah, those sweet little rules… the rules… the rules…or rather ignorance of the rules- like in Nazi Germany, where ignorance of basic Human Rights and Democracy, were the Rules – and no Rules other than such Rules of Pure Ignorance, were tolerated!
If we talk “rules,” then Obamacretins have to explain, why out of six states which moved their Primaries forward, only two were penalized? If you talk rules, why penalize two states, where Republican controlled legislatures, made it impossible for them to not violate the “rules” you claim to understand!?
I totally disagree with Gregory’s conclusion in yesterday’s post. No, we cannot accept a “reduced” or “half” delegation! Not only is it moraly and ethically wrong (which means nothing to Obamasluts, since they are ethically and morally wrong) – but it is strategically suicidal for us!
Strategically, Clinton cannot afford to give Il Duce the advantage of giving any delegates. Even if a half-delegation keeps the majority pledged delegates out of Hussein’s hands – remember, the less pledged delegates we have, the more superdelegates we need to win the nomination! So no, its strategically impossible, for us to cede even one delegate, let alone a hundred.
Granted, Clinton can eventually agree to grant Obama-Osama Michigan’s “Uncommitted” votes, simply by refusing to claiming them. But we cannot under any circumstances agree to any dilution of a Primary direct vote. Half a FL and MI delegation is historically unprecedented! The General Election may hinge on the slimmest of margins, and we’ve already been here before!
In 2000, it was Florida. A few thousand votes, rushed it into the Supreme Court, and please, let’s not repeat the Al Gore/Lieberman fiasco! The Republicans are tough, and Al Gore was not.
In 2004 it was Ohio. Voters were cheated, defrauded, and a few congressional investigations later, we were told to “get over it”. Democrats, the supine losers that we are, did.
Enough is enough. Not this time! In 2008 we are not dealing with a wuss like Al Gore, or John Kerry! Come on people, we’ve got a Clinton, and a Rodham, we’ve got a Hillary!!!
2008 will not be 2004, 2000, or 1933! We are tired of having our votes stolen, diluted, or deliberated upon by a few select judges! This time it all or nothing! If we don’t get our Florida and Michigan votes – some of us will unregister from the Democratic Party all together!
Historically, Democrats have threatened to shut out a state’s delegation in almost every single Presidential Election. Historically we have never, NEVER, carried out on that threat. It’s strategic suicide, with repercussions far beyond the states in question, and no matter how you spin it, its legality is questionable. It is as hard to prove sanctions being legal, as it is to prove them being illegal, but when winners are determined on the margin, make no mistake, keeping Florida and Michigan from the Denver Convention, would send the clearest, loudest, starkest message to the world, unparalleled by anything in 2000 or 2004, that America is not a democracy, that our parties differ little from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt or sham elections under Bath party in Iraq.
2000/2004 were techicalities, 2008 is sheer unadulterated totalitarianism.
I doubt tomorrow we will get what we want from the DNC – because we’ve got an eight year legacy of cowards sitting in these committees. Clinton supporters need to set our sights on Denver. In August, the DNC will smell the barrel of the November Gun. If it chooses to play Russian roulette, so be it – we won’t have any part in it. More likely, the DNC will piss its pants and beg Clinton loyalists to vote Democrat in the GE.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, will anger pro-Clinton loyalist more, than a reduced, partial, or unrecognized Michigan and Florida delegation at Denver. The McCain exodus will be virtually guaranteed in such a scenario. In Denver, we will get our way, and don’t you doubt it.
Reasonably, the DNC should act tomorrow to resolve this crisis and not hold off till Denver. Give the Maggot his Uncommitted dullards, in exchange Florida and Michigan voters Suffrage. Failing to do so on May 31st, will guarantee hemorrhage in August. Some won’t forgive the unreasonable tension, and limbo, into which the voters of these FL an MI were thrown to satisfy the personal ego of morally decrepit, lying, incompetent, arrogant, ignorant “articulate and clean” bamboozler. Such insult, will not go away with belated apologies. It’s Do or Die, and All or Nothing.
http://www.stop-obama.org/?p=467#more-467
No Quarter and Buck Naked Politics have the video up of the August DNC rules meeting where the DNC took everything from Florida…prepare to be disgusted with these control freaks and their rules…not a care to the voters or the position Florida was in with Republican control…it is all about their rules and punishing florida…check it out…
FOXNews.com
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Clinton Insists Democratic Race Is ‘Long Way’ From Over, Looks Toward Convention
……….. “Let’s have the Democratic party go on record against seating the Michigan and Florida delegations…………”
This says it all…if the democratic party rejects voters, voters can reject the democratic party!
Good Morning!
I just reviewed the Chicago Sun-Times site and read Lynn Sweet artical about Rev Pfleger, not “Breaking News” by any means, I am not sure what she ment last night on Greta, about having breaking news??
ADMIN
I have been unable to post on this thread using my firefox browzer the page is all messed up ……so i tried Int. explorer (which i dislike alot) and everything is normal
all previous threads are fine with firefox by the way its just this thread.
can you fix this?? i really would like to be able to use firefox
Thanks!!
online.wsj.com/article/SB121219030144534313.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
The Argument for Nominating Hillary
By LANNY J. DAVIS
May 31, 2008
After the votes are in from Puerto Rico tomorrow and South Dakota and Montana on Tuesday, neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton will be able to make a facts-based case that they represent a significant majority of grass-roots Democrats.
Chances are Sens. Obama and Clinton will virtually split the more than 4,400 delegates – including Florida and Michigan – elected by more than 34 million people over the past five months.
Sen. Clinton has already won the most votes, but there is controversy over including the over 300,000 votes from Michigan, since Sen. Obama was not on the ballot (by his own choice). But if Sen. Clinton wins a substantial victory in Puerto Rico tomorrow – with an expected record turnout exceeding two million voters – she could well end up with more popular votes than Sen. Obama, even if Michigan’s primary votes are excluded.
Worst case, she could come out with a 2% deficit in elected pledged delegates. But that gap can be made up, if most of the remaining 200 or so unpledged superdelegates decide to support Sen. Clinton as the strongest candidate against John McCain – or if others committed to Sen. Obama decide to change their minds for the same reason. A number of superdelegates previously committed to Sen. Clinton later announced support for Sen. Obama, so it’s certainly possible that, when confronted with growing evidence that Sen. Clinton is stronger than Sen. McCain, they might switch back.
The final argument for Hillary comes down to three points – with points one and two leading to the third.
First, Sen. Clinton is more experienced and qualified to be president than is Sen. Obama. This is not to say Sen. Obama cannot be a good, even great, president. I believe he can. But Sen. Clinton spent eight years in the White House. She was not a traditional first lady. She was involved in policy and debate on virtually every major domestic and foreign policy decision of the Clinton presidency, both “in” and “outside” the room with her husband. She has been a U.S. senator for eight years and has a record of legislative accomplishments, including as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
With no disrespect or criticism intended, Sen. Obama has been an Illinois state senator for eight years and a U.S. senator for just four years. He has, understandably, fewer legislative accomplishments than Sen. Clinton. That’s just a fact. Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that Sen. Clinton would be less vulnerable to criticism from Sen. McCain on the “experience” issue.
Second, Sen. Clinton’s position on health care gives her an advantage over Sen. McCain. Her proposal for universally mandated health care based primarily on private insurance and individual choices is a stark contrast to Sen. McCain’s total reliance on private market insurance, HMOs or emergency rooms for the 45 million or more uninsured. Sen. Obama’s position, while laudable in its objective, does not mandate universal care and, arguably, won’t challenge Sen. McCain as effectively as will Sen. Clinton’s plan.
Despite the fact that Sen. Obama’s campaign made the Iraq war a crucial issue in the Iowa caucuses and early primaries, there has never been a significant difference between his position and Sen. Clinton’s. Sen. Obama deserves credit for opposing military intervention in Iraq while he was running for the state senate in early 2002.
But in 2004, Sen. Obama said he “did not know” how he would have voted on the war resolution had he been a senator at the time. That summer he told the Chicago Tribune: “There’s not much of a difference between my position and George Bush’s position at this stage” of the Iraq War. (This is a statement that Sen. Clinton would not have made.) While he served in the Senate, he voted 84 out of 85 times the same as Sen. Clinton on Iraq-war related votes. The only exception is when he supported President Bush’s position on the promotion of a general that Sen. Clinton opposed.
Third and finally, there is recent hard data showing that, at least at the present time, Sen. Clinton is a significantly stronger candidate against Sen. McCain among the general electorate (as distinguished from the more liberal Democratic primary and caucus electorate).
According to Gallup’s May 12-25 tracking polling of 11,000 registered voters in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., Sen. Clinton is running stronger against Sen. McCain in the 20 states where she can claim popular-vote victory in the primaries and caucuses. In contrast, Sen. Obama runs no better against Sen. McCain than does Sen. Clinton in the 28 states plus D.C. where he has prevailed. “On this basis,” Gallup concludes: “Clinton appears to have the stronger chance of capitalizing on her primary strengths in the general election.”
The 20 states, Gallup points out, not only encompass more than 60% of the nation’s voters, but “represent more than 300 Electoral College votes while Obama’s 28 states and the District of Columbia represent only 224 Electoral College votes.” Sen. Clinton leads Sen. McCain in these 20 states by seven points (50%-43%), while Sens. Obama and McCain are pretty much tied. But in the 26 states plus D.C. that Sen. Obama carried in the primaries/caucuses, he and Sen. Clinton are both statistically tied with Sen. McCain (Clinton 45%-McCain 47%; Obama 45%-McCain 46%).
Gallup’s state-by-state polling in seven key battleground “purple” states also shows Sen. Clinton winning cumulatively in these states by a six-point margin (49%-43%) over Sen. McCain, while Sen. Obama loses to Sen. McCain by three points – a net advantage of 9% for Sen. Clinton. These key seven states – constituting 105 electoral votes – are Nevada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico, Arkansas, Florida and Michigan.
Meanwhile, Sen. Obama holds about an equal advantage over Sen. McCain in six important swing states that he carried in the primaries and caucuses – Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri. But these constitute less than half – 54 – of the electoral votes of the larger states in which Sen. Clinton is leading.
The latest state-by-state battleground polls (published May 21-23) by other respected polling organizations verify Gallup’s findings that Sen. Clinton is significantly stronger against Sen. McCain in the key states that a Democrat must win to gain the presidency. According to various poll data within the last 10 days:
- Pennsylvania: Sen. Clinton leads McCain 50%-39%; Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are effectively tied.
- Ohio: Sen. Clinton leads Sen. McCain 48%-41%, Sen. Obama is down 44%-40%.
- Florida: Sen. Clinton leads Sen. McCain 47%-41%; Sen. McCain leads Sen. Obama 50%-40%. (Sen. Clinton has a net advantage of 16 points!)
- North Carolina: Despite a substantial primary victory, Sen. Obama is down 8% vs. Sen. McCain, (51%-43%), while Sen. Clinton leads by 6% (49%-43%).
- Nevada: Sen. Clinton up 5%, Sen. Obama down 6%.
Even the theory that Sen. Obama can open up significant numbers of “red” states has not been borne out by recent polling. For example: in Virginia, which Sen. Obama won substantially in the Feb. 12 Democratic primary, he is currently down in at least one recent, respected poll by a significant 9% margin – one point greater than the 8% margin Sen. Clinton is behind Sen. McCain.
Finally, one unfortunate argument is making the rounds lately to convince superdelegates to go for Sen. Obama. That is the prediction that if Sen. Obama is not the nominee, African-American and other passionate Obama supporters will conclude that the nomination had been “stolen” and will walk out of the convention or stay at home. On the other side are the many women and others strongly committed to Sen. Clinton promising that if she is denied the nomination, they will refuse to vote for Sen. Obama.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are progressive, pro-civil rights, pro-affirmative action, pro-choice Democrats. Neither Obama supporters nor Clinton supporters who care about the issues, the Supreme Court, and the need to begin withdrawing from Iraq can truly mean they will actively or passively help Sen. McCain get elected. Threats of walkouts or stay-at-homes by good Democrats are not the answer, nor should they be a factor in superdelegate decisions.
But there is one possible scenario that avoids disappointment and frustration by passionate supporters of both candidates, that combines the strengths of one with the strengths of the other, and that virtually guarantees the election of a Democratic president in 2008:
A Clinton-Obama or an Obama-Clinton ticket.
Stay tuned.
Mr. Davis, former special counsel to President Clinton in 1996-98, is a longtime friend and supporter of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Leaders are Leaders because people are inspired to follow them. The only people following the DNC leadership are the SD.
Someone needs to tell them that they are Leaders of the Popular vote first, and the SDs second.
In todays electronic world, there will not be a back room deal, like there has been with the SDs, in conjuntion with the seating of MI and FL. Today the true voters of this Democracy will be watching you live or in re-runs, today and for years to come.
The Democratic Party belongs to the people, the people do not belong to the Democratic Party.
Obama’s painful new headache
May 31, 2008
Recommend (20)
LYNN SWEET blogs.suntimes.com/sweet
WASHINGTON — The Rev. Michael Pfleger’s “I’m white! I’m entitled … black man stealing my show” outburst about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton from the pulpit of the Obama family church, Trinity United Church of Christ, created a political problem for likely Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama that won’t disappear.
Pfleger’s crusades against guns, prostitution, porn and tobacco have made good copy for years for a fairly admiring local press corps hooked on cheering for the underdog, the poor and the powerless.
» Click to enlarge image
The Rev. Michael Pfleger mocked Sen. Hillary Clinton from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ – earning him a reprimand from Sen. Barack Obama as his comments threaten to resurrect the politically radioactive Rev. Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue.
(YouTube)
RELATED STORIES
Cardinal clamps down on Pfleger
Pfleger is the subject of a documentary being made by Chicago-based David Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist. On Friday, Axelrod told me in an e-mail that the film project has “been dormant for much of the last two years due to other commitments.”
Pfleger — a headline-making household name in Chicago — steps onto a national stage at a time an international press corps is making trips to Chicago to dig into Obama’s life to learn more about the man who may be president.
As the song goes, everything old is new again. CNN just did an “investigative” piece on how Obama knocked former state Sen. Alice Palmer (D-Chicago) off the ballot so he could run for her seat in 1996 without opposition. That Pfleger welcomed Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to his St. Sabina Church on the South Side — of interest to out-of-town reporters — hardly caused a stir in the city because Farrakhan has long lived in Chicago and, well, he’s part of the scene, having preached from his own mosque for decades.
With that context, consider the headache Pfleger created for Obama, whom Pfleger told me last April he has known since Obama came to Chicago as a community organizer.
• • Pfleger’s divisive comments about Clinton come as Obama has been trying to reach out to working-class white voters who in the later primaries have trended toward Clinton. Pfleger’s emergence as an issue comes as Obama’s team is trying to close the gap.
• • Pfleger spoke from the Trinity pulpit, of all places, where the inflammatory Rev. Jeremiah Wright preached for decades. Pfleger creates an excuse to revisit the Wright controversy. A GOP strategist told me they will use Pfleger from now until November as an Obama “troubling connection.”
• • The disrespectful treatment of Clinton by Pfleger comes as some Clinton backers are trying — at least for now — to drive a wedge between women and Obama. In Milwaukee, presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain said, “I think that kind of language and that kind of treatment, of Sen. Clinton, is unwarranted, uncalled for and disgraceful.”
• • Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George muzzled Pfleger at a time when the Obama campaign is also trying to win over Catholics.
Yes Mr. Davis, I “truly mean” I will actively or passively help McCain get elected if BHO is given the nomination. Yes Mr. Davis, I “truly mean” I will not vote party line if BHO is given the nomination by Pelosi/Dean/Reed/Brazille and the other shove it down our throats party elitists.
Here’s for you…, it’s the mysogyny, the rudeness, the unfair selective rules, the intimidation, the sexism, the race baiting, the BM, the unbalanced weight of caucus delegates and the party leadership…stupid.
I’ll wait til 2012 to deal with the issues that effect my life, and god knows thats gonna hurt, but not as much as this primary season has and the incompetence of the DNC.
Iam pretty sure that no one affiliated with Hillarys campaign can openly state that her supporters will defect…….they have to atleast look like they are uniting the party..
just consider that for a moment before you jump on what lanny (i feel had to say) i don’t think he believes it how ever
Djia, I don’t see anything new in the Chicago Sun-Times, she hasn’t put today news up yet! Have you heard this?
I had to shut down the Washington Journal, the bots were busy taking up the talking, they were disgusting as usual!!
And let it begin!
confloyd……….iam not sure but i think this is it here
Pfleger is the subject of a documentary being made by Chicago-based David Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist. On Friday, Axelrod told me in an e-mail that the film project has “been dormant for much of the last two years due to other commitments.”
she is exposing axelrods connection with pfleger
Oh well, I thought it might be a little more exciting than that! I can now put back c-span, the idiots are off.
i agree Debbie
i’m fed up with the DNC
the only person I respect and trust is Hillary
The DNC won’t get a dime or a dime of my time
I just saw a shot of Donna, she looked pist off!
Dean…. what an asshole…..
Dean mentions sexism in the media but says there has been racism in the campaign–no mention of media–referring to Hillary I think
showcase our nominee, you mean coward dean, select the nominee!
Dean is covering his ass right now, but its just tooo damn little and way too late IMHO
that was just a bunch of flower words and a whole lot of Wishful speaking……too bad dean you will not get us back
Did any of you notice he mentioned he selected to committee member 3.5 years ago!
He is dreaming, if he thinks this party will be united. Today will either make or break the party!
Yea, who ever this woman is, she telling everyone how she and rest stacked the deck for bambi!!
confloyd…. I thinking the same thing!
yep, she’s making excuses…….just wait till hill camp brings out the real rules and throws them in their face and tells the TRUTH
Yea a caucas of Nevada and SC!
Obama’s unfavourable rating 53%:Rasmussen Poll:
rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
clintondem……I am sure his unfavorable rating will be much lower in the next polling after pfleger tapes circulate
The woman who was speaking is Alexis Herman who served in President Clinton’s administration.
Jon Ausman is good!!!
From what I gather Sen. Nelson (FL) and Sen. Levin (MI) will be speaking, is that correct?
admin, i was going to mention the hillaryis44 format changed but as mentioned above the firefox search engine is having problems. i went back to my regular aol. working fine now on aol but not firefox.
shall
ohhhhhh she does not look happy about what Ausman pointed out
ALP ads in MT, SD, and PR.
http://www.leadership-project.org/preview
Dean mentions sexism in the media but says there has been racism in the campaign–no mention of media–referring to Hillary I think.
————————————————
American gal: Dean knows there has been racism in the campaign, it has come from the Obama camp and anyone who doubts this should read Race Man (Wilentz) inter alia.
Dean knows there has been sexism in the campaign, it has come from the Obama camp and anyone who doubts this should read Hating Hillary (Stefan) inter alia.
I am really confused by the negative ratings by Rassmussen on Bambi. If memory serves he was the one who told us to know me is to love me. In fact the more of that blank canvass gets filled in the more people do not like what they see.
Screw Wexler, how can any delegate endorse a candidate that does not want to count Florida voters?
THIS IS WAR!!!
Never give up and Never give in….the self serving IDIOTS running the DNC can’t hide in the darkness any more but must come out into the lights of cameras and show their contempt in the American Voters.
Just disgraceful.
Why is Nancy Pelosi still in OFFICE and I speak as a Californian!!!!
ADMIN:
ok now in IE this site is different too, atleast i can still post
but the page is structured differently, its white with blue print and laid out differently
but not totally messed up like with firefox
ausman and nelson are doing great, but i can’t wait for hillary’s people to speak!
oh wow……..it’s back to normal now on ie
but firefox isn’t yet
Let me say this….THE DNC would NEVER treated California like they did Florida and Michigan….NEVER!!!!
Because they KNOW Californians wouldn’t TAKE that SHIT!!! It would be sucide for them to TAKE CALIFORNIANS votes for GRANTED and they KNOW if they did what they are doing to FL and MI, it would be OVER for them.
Obama couldn’t play the race card like he has all over the country…he had to campaigned like everybody else in the HISTORY of our state and the better person won they state.
Nancy Pelosi and the rest of those clowns didn’t help Ofaker at all….he still lost 50 counties out of 58. Don’t be surprise if he loses to McCain this November if he is the nominee.
Nancy Pelosi has to GO!!! She has been a MAJOR disappointment as a leader.
carbynew, is there any ways to unseat Nancy pelosi in CA?
Note to self….. don’t piss off Sen Nelson!
That was pretty interesting Sen. Nelson shut down that little freak Arnold!
Meiyingsu, I live in SoCal….so I can’t help you BUT for those living in her district…FIRE HER ASS!!!!!
He did back down and change his attitude pretty quick.
Nelson is so damn good! i sure wouldn’t want to go up against him in anything!
Game over move would have been to have a video link of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq from Fl and MI asking why their votes do not count.
maybe this Althena lady could give Obama some tips on how to give a speech without a teleprompter!
no shit confloyd! wow!! she was awesome! Althena got a standing ovation that was well deserved!
brazilla got boo’d LOL
Donna Brazile and Howard Dean are leading us over the clift. Like I said, they’re taking the voters faith in our party and stepping all over their face in their ambitions.
Donna Brazile would rather lose in November AGAIN!!!
I’m not sure I’m understanding what Brazile is saying but if she is talking about somehow the Florida vote isn’t valid because some voters may have not gone to the polls (because they knew it didn’t count) but despite that need to be represented, than can Hillary make this same arguement with the caucuses where people wanted to vote but by the very structure of it could not because the system isn’t flexible enough to accomodate work schedules etc?
Donna, trying to cover her ass…. making sure everyone is under the umbrella,(white,black middle class ect…)
good point american gal……….hope someone there today makes that point
floridians need to get rid of wexler
That Brazile argument is loony–evidently she wants to count phantom Obama votes…sheesh
American Gal: There were other measures on the ballot to vote for. So, some people didn’t vote, that was their choice. The majority of the people did vote. It was a record turnout. Donna is the last one, who should be talking about disenfranchisement of voters.
Donna is an idiot, even my brother who is an Obama supporter doesn’t believe he has the experience as Hillary Clinton but he can’t let go of the dream….the first Black POTUS said Donna Brazile need to sit down and shut up.
He can’t stand to watch her on CNN and he has MAJOR respect for Hillary.
I don’t understand how you can argue that the people who didn’t vote are not being heard. They didn’t vote so they didn’t want to be heard.
Wexler – WE NEED TO CHANGE, WE NEED FLORIDA TO PARTICIPATE, but wait lets silence votes.
Because some people did not vote, they want to disenfranchise 2.3 million voters? Give me a break.
Fuck Wexler!!!!
what a joke the obama campaign is, thinking obama should be commended for asking that 50% be restored
he’s (wexler) getting boo’d now
Seat 100% as allocated by the elections or lose both MI and FL in November. Plain and simple!!
doesn’t look like many bo supporters in the room LOL
This is a repeat of 1964 and Ofaker has reincarnated brains of Hubert H. Humphrey’s 50-50 solution.
Remember Fannie Lou Hammer: “I get sick in tired of being sick in tired.”
But Obambi is NOT Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson and will not be elected in November if he is the nominee.
Voting is a right, not a privilege. If voters did not vote January 29th that was their choice.
I have been told by people who know him that Wexler is not a genius. Also I recall he had some involvement with an investment guy who lost alot of money for widows and orphans. This fact is noted in the Alamanac of American Politics. I would be more precise about that incident, but I loaned my copy out. If you have one yourself it is worth taking a look at. Appaently he survived it because he was reelected. It is fitting perhaps that he should be the one speaking for Obama.
Oh Wexler needs his ass kicked, the asshole.
Oh yeah Obama, preaching unity on Florida, what a fuckwit.
A Florida democrat not fighting for his state, he needs removing in Nov.
asking the question damn it!!!
He Won’t answer the question, lol.
He is caught big time between Obama and FL voters in November.
Some did not vote, sorry they should have come. Your right how about those caucas states, not everyone got to vote!
Wexler is not a very good speaker, he looks like he’s gets frustrated, answer the question.
No you have not. He want say he would oppose.
If he answers yes, he will lose in November
Wexler got nailed by that lady.
The best thing to happen was putting the spotlight on these COWARDs and TRAITORS to our democratic values.
It’s been very eye opening to see all the snakes comes out of hiding in the DNC….well, some of them and circumvent the voters wishes.
What punks and to see our young men and women fighting for us and our country values being led by these arrogant stormtroopers marching to the beat of Marxism and not the U.S. Constitution.
Pathetic!!!
Wexler just lost his seat, he opposes Florida vote, thats the way it will be painted.
It is apparent who is holding back progress, and its not the Hillary campaign!
wow tina was awesome with that question ” would you accept 100% delegate reinstatement” and wexler would not answer it!!
Obama camp exposed as the voter disenfranchisers that they are!!!
Yup Wexler is not liking it now, is he.
What the fuck? Wexler, pardon me, is a CUNT.
Support Wexler’s opponent in November. Wexler is not acting in the best interest of Florida just his candidate.
hwww.graberforcongress.com/
WB, what was Ickes point with fair representation.
No no no you can not re-slate delegates after the election has been certified.
If so many people did not vote (according to DB), then why was a revote denied? That would have brought more voters in. Hmmm……
Wexler is getting nailed
alice huffman ” if 100% was reinstated why would that be disunity rather than unity?”
She is pissed, Alice Huffman is nailing his ass to the wall.
smack down!!
ALice Huffman rocks
He still will not answer the question do you wnat all delegates seated with full voting rights or not!
Wexler is looking just like a stooge. I hope Floridians are going to sling his ass out in Nov.
Molly-all he was trying to do was leave the question hanging in the air-namely that his 50% reduction proposal and fair reprentation are mutually exclusive concepts which cannot live together under the same roof such that dearly beloved bambi is a disenfranhisor. Simply put the question was rhetorical.
Oh wexler is out of control
Ben Graber is laughing his ass off right now.
He’s trying to have every vote counted and then doesnt want to do it, he’s been to Obama school.
thanks wb. will we have arguments after lunch
Alice Huffman got served by Obama….we know this pattern very well. He is going to blame Howard Dean and the DNC for this debacle after listening to Wexler “chicken shit” speech.
Simple answer Alan, seat all delegates with full votes.
SMACK DOWN INDEED!!!
high five to Alice Huffman and that tina lady!!!!!
Ooh Michigan, this ought to be fun
Wexler has been to Obama school, he wouldnt answer the question.
What a kangeroo court. Everyone on the Bambi team is leaving out the voter. Its not about Hillary or Obama, its about the voters! What Bullc&*p!
Some great presentations…Wexler’s not among them.
I can’t tell if this is going well for Hillary or its just theatrics and they’ll screw her anyway, i’m going for option 2.
You really get the feeling none of these people want to be here. So sourfaced its unbelievable.
I want someone to ask, Why Mr Obama took his name of the ballot, thats what i want asked.
Remember it’s ALL or DENVER!!! History is being made today under the bright lights and we will know how much work need to be done to fix our party.
The DNC have to be careful,
There we have it
the facts about Michigan, Hillary was not the only person on Michigans ballot.
Dodd, Gravel, Kucinich and Clinton, THIS WAS NOT A REQUIREMENT OF THE DNC TO REMOVE YOUR NAME.
Wexler is looking just like a stooge.
———————————————–
yes, it is called transparency. But as stooges go he is sure as hell as blustering one. If I was one of his elderly constituents I would turn my hearing aid off when I saw him coming for fear he would blow out my eardrums when he said ” Hi my name is Wexler moneys the name disenfrancishment is the game now give me your vote”.
They want to give Obama 59 delegates when his name wasn’t on the ballot!
Fuck off, No Delegates for Obama, why should he get any.
Actually if they are going to do that, they need to give some to Edwards and the rest.
You really get the feeling none of these people want to be here. So sourfaced its unbelievable.
*****************************************************
Yeah, they don’t want to be there under the glare of transparency and be held accountable for this debacle.
Everything is being put on the record in view of the people of the United States and the world.
these arguments based on exit polls are quite flimsy. We all know how reliable exit polls are.
he just said exit polls showed that 75% of the 40% of uncommitted votes were for obama and 25% of that 40% was for John Edwards…….stands to reason that IF…they go against what the rules say! and allocate uncommitted votes PRIOR to the
convention (which is legally the only place they can then choose a candidate) that they should be following the Exit polls
not what they “wish” for in order to stack in favor of obama
Was that exiting polling data certified? Who took that data? Who held it, analyzed it! This guy ought to work for MSNBC
bullshit!! Obama always over polls in exit polls.
They are pulling these figures out of their ass now.
Tina is gonna nail him.
She is going to rip him a new ass.
Tina Flournoy, is awesome!!!
Ar they seriously trying to say this, i mean what the fuck?
They are making voting figures up now. Sure can i guess the numbers now.
elaine kamarck: uncommitted is a vote for no one, bound to no one
if we start setting a presidence of taking polling data from here and there and start assigning delegates accordingly we are in trouble !
Oh this woman is good, there were 2 legitimate on the ballot, Uncommitted and People.
He can’t say that, they did not vote for him
don fowler, i feel a little bit like i am alice in wonderland LOL
It looks the people on thius committee are going with the hard data and not fairytales.
dija: did Fowler say that?
yep as his lead in to asking his question to mi as to how they think they can take exit polls into account to assign delegates LOL
Hillary’s camp can shock them all and say seat all the delegates uncommitted since the delegate slates have already been selected she wins.
LOL ickes, he just said it, they took their names off on purpose.
Ickies…… some say…..that some with drew their name on the MI ballot to appease some in states like Iowa
round of applause!!!
Go Ickes! Point outs through question that taking name off ballot was entirely voluntary…and some candidates were trying to win favor in Iowa
Who is this twat from Illinois, and am I surprised.
moononpluto it is thomas hynes hes a member from IL for DNC hes an obama supporter
thomas hynes trying to say some who voted for hillary shouldn’t count as they would have voted for her opponent had he been on the ballot……………….now that is laughable!!!
They need to ask to see the exit poll data. Ask who collected it and how
are they purposely keep brazilla quiet today??
who did levin endorse
she can clap
Exixt poll data does not matter. In a horse race if a horse is scratched and the race run, the owner of the scratched horse can not go to officials after the race and say the prize money should be split because I pulled my horse out of the race.
I wonder why Ickes asked Wexler about Reflection and then stopped? Did anyone else notice that after this he actually left the table.
Levin is a great lawyer. Watch him closely.
OandrewD go up and read wb’s response to me @12:21
OandrewD I did notice that too
I have no idea what that was about…….but would like to know
oo ok thanks
Damn Levin is good, he as much as says seat FL and MI and strip NH of there delegates
He’s great
well the thing that pisses me off,
is as a union member, i volunteer my time every election, to not
only talk to our huge union presence on our job site,
but also we go out to the public, and sign up as many people
as possible for early voting…
the hope is that the elderly, the sick, the unavailable, and those who live far from a voting spot. not to mention working and poor, have the priveledge of voting.
If I hear one more time how many voters didn’t vote because they believed us, I will explode. Who the hell believes any politician to begin with, therefore no one believed you!!!
Hillary was standing up for the rights of MI voters to have a say. Somebody needs to bring that out.
I had to leave just as Michigan was coming up, were there any sparks? Looks to me like there is great division among the rules committee!
The Obama camp seem very agressive and argumentative, does anyone else think so?
Ickes equates fair reflection to the First Amendment. This is really important argument.
“equates” it in terms of being fundamental. Now he’s on exit polls. He is very good. Can see why he was deputy Chief of Staff for the Clinton administration.
confloyd
Levin was good, he pretty much put all the blame on NH and the rules committee itself for breaking their own rules by allowing NH the change the date of their primary to jump aheand of NV and SC.
Ickes now raises Parlimentary objection.
personally I do not think Bob Wexler did a good job…yes he was characteristically passionate, but yelling with the support of a lot of Obama supporters yelling in the background does not mean he was making any sense…
he was the first one to take the dialogue into the blatant ‘political’ realm and making it about Obama vs Hillary while contradicting himself talking about unity…
he sounded like ‘unity by intimidation’
…and just reminds all the hillary supporters of all the anger and rage in the Obama camp…guess that is the reason Obama chose him…I truly suspect that he is supporting obama and vying for something in the administration…because Bob Wexler is arguing against himself…
Tina Flourney (sp) succeeded in producing the ‘deer in the headlights’ moment of the morning session…she shot fear into Bob Wexler…and you could see it written all over his face
…his presentation was a talking contradiction
I’m working on some bumper stickers and such, have a cafepress shop as hillaryormccain.
Can I use
F*CK UNITY!
lol
why not seat all MI delegates as uncommitted and go to convention ……. because we all know they will flow like trout up stream to hillary
Also,
IT’S ALL OR DENVER!
Loved that one, carby!
djia
That’s what I have been saying seat them all as umcommitted. The slate has already been certified and Hillary actually won some of the uncommittee delegates in addition to her own delegates.
Yep s, I noticed some fear in the Obama and his surrogates as all of the speeches took place. It should be noted by the stupid committee that the party is split. No doubt its split!
Tuesday May Not End Democratic Fight
By AMY CHOZICK
May 31, 2008; Page A5
CHICAGO — With just three more Democratic primaries and a rules committee meeting remaining, many expect the long race for the Democratic presidential nomination to end on Tuesday. But will it?
Sen. Barack Obama says the general election campaign will begin after South Dakota and Montana hold primaries on Tuesday and that the Democratic Party will have its nominee. When asked whether he will be that nominee, the front-runner told reporters on Wednesday, “I believe so.”
Sen. Obama is 44 delegates shy of clinching the nomination and leads Sen. Hillary Clinton by 200 delegates, according to the Associated Press tally. He has 1,982, to her 1,782, and 2,026 are needed for the nomination under current rules.
Associated Press
Hillary Clinton spoke at a campaign event in Huron, S.D., in anticipation of the June 3 South Dakota primary election.
But that doesn’t mean Sen. Clinton will be delivering a concession speech next week. The former first lady is favored to win the Puerto Rico primary on Sunday. A big victory there, combined with strong showings in Montana and South Dakota where Sen. Obama is favored, would put Sen. Clinton ahead in the popular vote, according to her campaign, which counts the votes from the disputed contests in Florida and Michigan and excludes caucus states. Most independent tallies of the popular vote put Sen. Obama ahead.
Clinton aides are also quick to point out that after the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws panel meets on Saturday to work out a compromise to the long-running dispute over Michigan and Florida, more than 2,026 delegates will be needed to secure the nomination. The two states violated party rules by holding primaries ahead of schedule in January and were stripped of their delegates to the August convention.
“Voting will be over [on Tuesday] but it’s very unlikely the nomination will be secured,” says Clinton campaign strategist Geoff Garin.
Several members of the rules and bylaws committee have said that half of the 368 delegates from Michigan and Florida will be counted. The Clinton campaign had hoped all delegates would be seated and their votes distributed, based on the results of the two primaries, which she won. Sen. Obama’s name was not on the ballot in Michigan.
Aides say Sen. Clinton could appeal the committee’s decision and fight until the convention in August. Several lawsuits have been filed to force the seating of the full Florida delegation, but they have been unsuccessful so far.
WASHINGTON WIRE
The Journal’s political team reports from the campaign trail. Latest posts:
• Clinton Strategist: Obama Isn’t Entitled to Michigan Delegates
• McCain Camp: A Tempest in a Verb Tense
• Obama Surrogates Question McCain’s Understanding of Iraq
• Scott McClellan: A Vote for Obama?
• McCain on Warrantless Wiretapping
• Obama’s Favorability Ratings Take a Hit
• All campaign posts
MORE
Mr. Garin says Clinton aides will be aggressively reaching out to undecided superdelegates next week in hopes that a flood of support will save her candidacy. “It will be clear 2,026 will no longer be the magic number and superdelegates will have to start their decision-making about who would be the stronger candidate to defeat John McCain,” he says.
Sen. Clinton may even begin campaigning in general election states next week. The campaign press office sent an email to reporters Thursday requesting that they sign up to travel with the candidate through June 6.
Sen. Obama has shrugged off suggestions that the Democratic primary may not end next week. “This is fairly standard fare,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I mean when [Michael] Dukakis won the nomination [in 1988] you know Jesse [Jackson] was still running until the convention. When Bill Clinton was running [in 1992], Jerry Brown was still technically in it.”
While in both cases the challenger stayed in the race until the convention, neither had anywhere near the same level of support as Sen. Clinton. The New York senator has won 20 contests and has amassed roughly 16 million votes.
“There aren’t a whole lot of recent models to look at where a severely wounded candidate stays in it,” says Republican pollster Glen Bolger.
Sen. Obama has for the past several weeks been focused on Sen. McCain and the general election campaign, only mentioning Sen. Clinton to praise her and call for party unity.
As Sen. Clinton campaigned in the remaining primary states this week, Sen. Obama visited New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, states he hopes to turn Democratic in the general election. On Sunday, he plans events in Michigan, another key state.
Write to Amy Chozick at amy.chozick@wsj.com
http://www.online.wsj.com/article/SB121219668684234615.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox
Can not wait to see Wexler on youtube avoiding the question should all of Florida’s delegates be seated with full voting rights.
Has anyone noticed brazille has not said anything since being booed?
debbie said: I’ll wait til 2012 to deal with the issues that effect my life, and god knows thats gonna hurt, but not as much as this primary season has and the incompetence of the DNC.
——————
Right! Even if Hillary retired, I’d still vote down Obama so a REAL DEMOCRAT can run in 2012!
rjk
I noticed, and asked up thread if perhaps they told her not too ,
Another Obama supporter stuttering, it must be a side effect of the Kool-ade
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the update on what is happening at the DNC meeting. I hope that CSPAN repeats the entire hearing tonight. It was interesting watching the repeat of the April 2007 meeting last night.
I really hope that common sense prevails. I sometimes have to shake my head in amazement at the people at the DNC. Are they not listening to the people? I just do not understand them.
Admin, thanks for the excellent posts and thanks for this site. I have never posted on another site, so thanks for giving me this outlet.
I wish I could post as frequently as the regulars do, but duty calls and I must obey. All of you keep me informed when I get a chance to check in.
Paul (Universal), I could not believe the vitriol in the comment to you, it gave me an instant headache. You must be touching a nerve. DO NOT BACK DOWN!!
ON TO DENVER!
why does obama have to be apart of the slating process, his name was not on the ballot!
he was NOT apart of that primary voting!
so what right does he have?? essentially he has no votes or delegates
You go Tina….
I do not think any Obama supporter has done a very good job today.
read the update. glad i found that obama link-
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/05/31/intimidate-08/#more-2824
My prediction Florida will be seated at 100% and Michigan at 50%
i’ll go a bit further with that prediction
in MI Uncommitted will remain Uncommitted and will not go to obama
rjk1957 Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Has anyone noticed brazille has not said anything since being booed?
*****************************************************
She better not say nothing…she has done ENOUGH damage to our party.
A bunch of cynical tricksters and flim flam artists in the DNC leading our party and TAKING the VOTERS for GRANTED.
We need to THROW Howard Dean off the BUS and Keep Nancy Pelosi to the curb with her terrible leadership…the Dems have nobody to blame for GWB then Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
Correction: Kick Nancy Pelosi to the curb with her terrible leadeship.
Brazille waving her hand
That is the punishment FL and MI go last in 2012…
Up yours katz!!
Lol, did I just hear the guy on CSPAN speaking for Hillary/Michigan just say something about super delegates changing back and forth by August?
Hell, they ahve been changing back and forth for months now.
Voters who did not vote made that choice get over it.
There were another 100,000 in WV who did not vote because they had been told that the election was over and obama was the nominee, what about them???
not to mention KY,TX,OH, PA,NC & IN
Come on, Harold smack Donna down for calling Hillary supporters cheaters..
Oh no she didn’t!!!!
“My Mama taught me to play be the rules and the changing the rules during the game is cheating”
play by the rules
Screw Conyers too, he and his wife were the ones running ads in MI telling Obama supporters to vote uncommitted.
I thought I saw a man next to Brazille say OMG, when she said Hillary was cheating, did you all see that?
call in to C span
202 585 3885 clinton supporters
202 585 3886 obama supporters
2020 585 3887 all others
I thought I saw that too. I can not wait until the debate after lunch, Harold is going to rip Brazille a new asshole. She may not be able to sit again until after November.
So did say Clintons acheater or the state of MI…. either case she showed her true colors.
I thought I saw a man next to Brazille say OMG, when she said Hillary was cheating, did you all see that?
*****************************************************
They always call names WHEN they are losing….bad sports the Obamaites.
Hillary Clinton supporters are now CHEATERS when they follow the rules and STILL beat OBAMBI to the ground and now that Obama’s wolfs in sheep clothing are being called out on their crap…Hillary supporters are cheating. What a bunch of WEAK AZZ PUNKS.
okay what I ment to say is ,….. Donna tcomment about cheateing for Clinton or the state of MI??
THIS IS WAR!!!!!
BATTLE CRY: ALL or DENVER
This SELLOUT will not fall in line and kiss Obambi ring….it ain’t gonna happen.
She was talking to a Clinton supporter (Former MI Governor) saying changing the rules during the game is cheating. Implying that the Clinton camp is trying to cheat.
c span just said they will be re airing all of this tonight
Isn’t there some trial Tubin should be covering? How the hell did he become a CNN Senior political commentator? Where did he gain that experience from covering the OJ trial?
ROTFL,
I can’t believe the calls coming into CSPAN…geesh even the republicans want OBAMBI….bad.
That last lady was obviously an Obama supporter saying she was a McCain supporter just to get on the air to say they should share the delegates..
In what universe, should a candidate get delegates for votes that he did not earn???
Maybe in Cuba or Russia..
I saw that too Confloyd. It is so interesting that no one has a good answer as to why some candidates voluntarily removed their names while Hillary and others left theirs on and how it is within rules to give votes to a candidate who’s name VOLUNTARILY was taken of the ballot. Who can name a party “rule” that would allow giving votes to a candidate that took his name off the ballot. WTF…really off the reservation with that proposal!
HillBillyLover
That would be on page 7, paragraph 3 in the Obama/Axlerod Rules for rigging an election
the weirdest thing to me was Wexler screaming for voters’ rights, but then saying only count 50%.
I can just see his opponent’s ads against him leading up to November
CSPAN gtting close to re-aring the Wexler smack down..
Man! Is this the best freaking reality show ever?? I cannot wait till after lunch and deliberations start. Did you all see Stephanie Tubbs Jones? She rocks, and I love that she’s a Clevelander!
Is it just me or is this website in blue and all screwed up for everyone else?
shenanigans……. its like that for me using firefox browzer
but i switched to IE and all is well
Wexler was almost incoherent, and I agree that he made the Obama campaign look incredibly confrontational (surprise, surprise).
Did you guys see Lynn Sweet’s article in the Chicago Sun Times today? Apparently Axelrod thinks so much of Father Pfleger, and admires him so much, that he’s FINANCING A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE GUY! :O
So much for the Obama campaign’s transparent attempts to paint Pfleger as some rogue, unknown guy. Obama called Pfleger his own “spiritual advisor,” and now we know that Axelrod is making movies about the guy?
Crap, it is the best reality show I have ever seen, I even went to town to get some beer to enjoy the show. Hell, by the end of the day, there may be a fist fight. We can always hope. Ickes, looks like he’s ready to kick some arsh!!
I am sick of Wexler slamming his fist on the table! Man is he ready for a fight I wish the hell I was there, I would like to ablidge him!
BV
yep i posted that article up thread………but i think and am hopeful that there will be alot more on that guy and others to come
Has anyone heard how the Communist News Network is handling the news of this? Have they shown the protesters outside, I have been watching C-span, I don’t want to hear the freaking pundits?
Are we taking bets on the outcome of MI after lunch? I’m betting they will seat it as voted, leaving uncommitted “uncommitted” by rule, then give 1/2 vote power instead of full like they are talking about for Florida.
Confloyd, I refuse to watch CNN, I know what their take will be.
Hillbillylover, I think you are right! I still hope Hillary takes it to the convention! Next week is the Texas convention and I am a delegate for Hillary. I just got a call from one of our Senate district 5 and i believe they are expecting some problems at the state level.
I am sure that anything less than full delegation according to the votes hillary will take it to convention
especially if uncommitted remains uncommitted
A Clinton Hurricane Hits Outside the DNC Hearing Room
May 31, 2008 2:05 PM
There was a tornado watch outside the Democratic National Committee’s Rules & Bylaws Committee meeting at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel Saturday afternoon. And there was a brewing storm inside the hotel as well.
A group of public officials — allies of both Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Barack Obama — walked out of the hearing room to discuss their willingness to come together on a plan to seat all their delegates, each voting at half-delegate status, but representatives of the Clinton campaign from outside Florida interrupted their press conference to dispute the idea that the Clinton campaign agreed with the plan.
The “Florida unity” group, which included Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, a Clinton supporter, Rep. Bob Wexler, D-Florida, am Obama supporter, and Florida Democratic National Committee member Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, who filed a challenge to the DNC’s decision to not recognize any of Florida’s delegates.
They seemed to come around the idea that for now the DNC would agree to seat Florida’s entire 211-member delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August, though all the delegates — pledged and superdelegates — would have their vote count as half a delegate. The move would net Clinton 19 pledged delegates. Participants seemed to agree that the door was open to the eventual Democratic nominee seating them at full strength if he or she so chose.
Clinton campaign surrogate Lanny Davis stood outside the circle and interrupted, raising his voice in protest that the Clinton campaign had agreed to anything less than a 100% seating of the delegates at 100% of their strength.
Nelson noted that he was speaking “on behalf of the voters of Florida,” not on behalf of the Clinton campaign.
“They’re misrepresenting our stance,” Davis said repeatedly.
Then Arthenia L. Joyner, Clinton’s designated Florida representative, approached the circle.
“The campaign is only for 100%,” Joyner said.
Davis and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, a fiery supporter of Sen. Clinton’s, exchanged some heated words with Ausman after the Florida DNC member suggested they had no business speaking.
Davis took issue with some from the Florida unity group saying the Obama campaign’s concession was “generous” since Clinton would net 19 delegates.
“That is not generous when they take away 50%,” Davis said. “That is spin!”
What’s wrong with netting 19 delegates? “It’s 19 less than the people of Florida voted,” Davis said.
This was more than Florida DNC member Ausman could apparently take. “I can say they’re being generous,” Ausman said of the Obama campaign, “and I’m the one who filed the petition.”
“Are you a paid staff member for Clinton?” Ausman asked Davis.
“Actually I’m just a friend,” said Davis.
“Are you a designated representative of the Clinton campaign?” Ausman, who may be a foot taller than Davis, asked.
“I am not,” Davis said.
“Why don’t you let the designated representative speak for Clinton and you be silent?” Ausman said, more a statement than a question. “Are you from Florida?”
“Why don’t you go about your business?” Jones asked Ausman.
“As a matter of fact I will not be silent,” Davis said, “you’re not going to silence me.”
“You had your interview,” interjected Jones. “Why don’t you let someone else be interviewed? I am the designated representative for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. My name is Stephanie Tubbs Jones and I represent the great state of Ohio.
“We don’t expect that the Obama campaign will be so ‘generous’ as to ‘give’ us the 19 delegates,” Jones continued. “It is in fact more generous and more appropriate to count all the votes as they were cast.”
Jones would not comment on the Clinton campaign’s position that Obama be awarded zero delegates and zero popular votes from Michigan, where his name was not on the ballot.
- jpt
How is taking 4 delegates from Hillary in Michigan fair. What it sounds like is an affirmative action move, not a fair move.
What happenings next? a ruling? or more speeches?
noquarter:
*************************************************
By TruthtellercloseAuthor
Let us summarize Obama’s position: we must respect imaginary voters who would have or could have cast votes in Michigan and Florida, for if we do not respect these imaginary voters, we run the risk of disenfranchising voters who may or may not exist. It is a specious argument, especially as the Obama campaign’s victories were in caucus states. Is not his delegate count predicated on the systematic disenfranchisement of voters who would have participated but could not have participated in a caucus? What if those states held primaries? Should we, for example, reallocate the delegates in Nebraska and Washington state in order to reflect the outcomes of their respective primaries? After all, the delegate count as a result of their caucuses do not reflect the desires of the primary voters in those two states.
Obama’s argument hinges on a series of hypotheticals, none of which can be substantiated with incontrovertible evidence. So now we are in the territory of known knowns (votes actually cast), known unknowns (we know people did not cast votes, but we do not know how many there are or why they chose not to participate), unknown knowns (we know write-in ballots exist in Michigan, but we do not know the desires of those voters) and unknown unknowns (the number of people who do not vote for whatever reason in any election). If the Committee restricts itself to evidence that can be viewed and analyzed, they will side with the Clinton campaign. If the Committee chooses to dwell on hypotheticals and on imaginary scenarios, they will side with Obama. Either we uphold democracy, or we undermine it in the name of Obama’s political fantasies.
Hoowee! If that is an indication, there will be a few fireworks in this next session!
clearly with all these bots calling in on cpan trying to keep Mi and FL disenfranchised and the way wexler’s tantrum went…
that they are totally scared that if those two states count they know obama will loose the nomination
and the RBC/DNC knows that if they do not do the “right” thing Hillary will take it to the convention
CHECK MATE!……YOU’RE BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE!!!
They are talking rulz, what about the freaking constitution, one person, one vote!
why are they taking a longer lunch break???
better not be some back room deal going on
There better not be a back room deal going on. Maybe they are having a fist fight? LOL!!
How much over are they from their lunch break, anyone know?
Hmmm…better check out Youtube!
several RBC members mentioned no one could have forseen the circumstances that would have lead to todays meeting. Noone could have forseen the closeness of this race. With that in mind, these are “extraordinary” circumstances and waivers to both FL & MI should be granted and all delegates seated with 100% of the votes. the loss of voter participation with the candidates, and the loss of revenue from the campaigning should be enough punishment to FL & MI.
Further, I do not take pity on any person who has the right to vote and choses not to. If they had been blocked from casting their vote that would be one thing, but they decided to forgo their primary. I take my vote seriously and NO ONE can tell me it doesn’t count, because it counts to me, thats why I vote every election. Their excuse is so lame it makes me sick.
I agree, Debbie. There has been nothing compelling about any of their “rules are rules” and “invisible voter” arguments.
if brazille keeps saying the law is the law, and its not made to be broken, than do what your mama said and:
DONT ‘CHEAT’ AND GIVE HILLARYS VOTES TO OBAMA !!!!!!!
hey any chance BHO on that shuttle launch?
maybe they took brazille out behind the barn!
LOL@confloyd
ha ha, y’all crack me up!
BTD is convinced only half from FL will be seated and maybe none from MI. He says Hill made a mistake not arguing FL deserved safe harbor.
Oh heck, mj, where are you hearing this information?
djia, I can’t access!
confloyd….can’t access what??
They are real late from their lunch break, something is happening, maybe Bambi finally told them of all his skeletons! lol!!
this is bullcrap!!! they were supposed to be back an hour ago!!
then the shuttle now the presidents address!!
WTF!!!!!!! this smells badly!!
You have a link there to my name!
if mi cannot be resolved then it goes to the conv
OH LOL
djia, you have mail
Hey Texan, do you think there will be a problem or two crop up at the convention next week? I am trying to get on the committee to rule on the problems with the caucas’s! Hope to meet you there!
AmericanGal Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 11:49 am
I’m not sure I’m understanding what Brazile is saying but if she is talking about somehow the Florida vote isn’t valid because some voters may have not gone to the polls (because they knew it didn’t count) but despite that need to be represented
&&&&&
She made the same bogus argument later when talking about MI voters. I suppose her thinking is, “Let’s not count all the votes of people who showed up to vote, but we should count votes of people who didn’t show up”.
And in the Michigan Q&A, she broke out this ridiculous, “My mama told me…” bullshit. Get off your high horse.
http://therealistblogs.blogspot.com/2008/05/donna-brazile-mama-taught-me-to-play-by.html
Brazilla my mama taught me to play by the rulz video
rgbhrc44, man that is a good analogy! Lets counts the ghosts of the election and not the real election!
h t t p : / / therealistblogs.blogspot.com/2008/05/donna-brazile-mama-taught-me-to-play-by.html
BRAZILLA: MY MAMA TAUGHT ME TO PLAY BY THE RULZ VIDEO
the tx conv will be chaotic i think. rihie backing obama like this sets him up for some big problems. his statement is in the hou chron-he says he is backing obama bc hillary annot win the nom. well if richie would back hillary and get her supers she would dumbass!
People speaking on Obama’s behalf have used specious arguments, statements that don’t add up. The pro-Clinton have put forth cogent arguments.
Maybe the Obamadrones are generally dumb… Or, maybe their case is too difficult to present. They can’t sell their “product” because it is defective.
I thought former Michigan governor Jim Blanchard was excellent. He defended Hillary and her voters real well.
Carl Levin was great too, even though I am more partial to Blanchard’s proposed delegate split than Levin’s. Still, you could tell Levin is pissed about this whole thing and of Michigan doesn’t get 100 percent representation he’s not going to just let it drop. He has said previously that he plans to take it all the way to the convention, and after hearing him talk I believe it.
That Wexler guy sounds like a preacher. Doesn’t Obama have any friends who speak normally? Why do they all seem to preach at people like that?
Overall, it’s good to see the Hillary supporters on the committee taking on Camp Obama. If anything, we’re seeing today that not everybody has been drinking the Kool-Aid.
the rbc is behind closed doors now. its real hard trying to figure out how many to be disenfrachised isnt it? god this decsion is so damned hard now aint it? what a sham
Texan, so richie said she couldn’t win, so he’s going with the freaking communist. When is he up for re-election? I ready for a fight and and I am in Senate district 5. Look for me, Ill be the most adament Hillary supporter in my district, you won’t be able to miss me! LOL!!!
Talk Left thinks BO will get the popular votes for uncommitted from MI! Can you imagine a guy getting votes from a certified election who didn’t have his name on the ballot?
MJ
he won’t get them after the convention fight
Texan, its a kangaroo court, no less! Hillary surrogates talk about voting rights and the Obama surrogates talk about poor little bambi who followed the rulz! Well, the voters followed the rulz, they voted. Here again we see that Bambi is more important than 2.4 million voters!!!
mj: that is asinine. He shouldn’t get any votes. He took his name off the ballot. He doesn’t deserve anything.
What the heck is happening, do we know they are talking behind closed doors?
just tried calling the cspan phone numbers i posted above and got nothing but a busy signal
Chuck Todd says the Party belongs to Obama now.
cnn carring live coverage now
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/
Harold Ickes on Michigan:
The principle of fair reflection mandates that the delegates be seated in accordance with the actual vote, and not based on conjecture, exit polls, or what might have occurred.
Barack Obama removed his name from the ballot by choice, to curry favor with the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire…
Uncommitted votes are given the full force and effect of a named candidate…delegates should be allocated to “uncommitted” and both Clinton and Obama would have the opportunity to persuade those delegates to come on board their ship…
“…to take delegates that Clinton won, and give them to Obama” sets a bad precedent. “Why take just five delegates from Clinton and give them to Obama? Why not take ten, twenty delegates?”
looks like observers are there, but the committe and campaign surragets are not in the room
looking like a back room deal to me
MJ
please elaborate more about chuck todd and what he said
djia. I read it in the comments at talk left.
BHO to leave church…think he will be considered as sincere as Jimmy Swaggart was here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVHTv0CHwVw
So now we hear they are doing a back room deal, the hell with that! I wish we could get a message to the protesters out there to make a run of the building. No, No, NO back room deals!!! Everything out in the open!
He may leave the church, but what the church taught is still in your heart barack obama, Lets get real!!!
I hope they are raking Brazille over the coals for her comment
over on noquarter someone posted that wolf blitzer said the RBC had a 5.5 hr dinner meeting last night that went till 2am
and still couldn’t come to a decision
So the gutless wonders can’t even come out and let the people know what the heck they are doing. So sad, these people are representing us, no wonder this country is almost bankrupt!
did BO really state he was leaving his church??? when???
so they are fighting over Michigan!
heads up , they are all coming back to the table now
I think we should really through a fit that some of this was not transparent!
I agree confloyd
Well, I see Donna can still sit down!
How can the party belong to waffles?
I think they need to tell us what they discussed! They are already acting like communists, so why do we think they want a communist leader!
I am not liking the smiles on the BO supporters
WExler and Donna seem very happy!
JUst lets us all remember we will have the final say-so in November!!
dija it was reported on cnn the bho is leaving his church, but like confloyd said you can take him out of the church but you cant take the church out of him
As I watch all these folks trying to find their seat, I am struck that these may be the very people who decide whether we have a black racist president or Hillary!
man i wish i could read lips
debbie………..it don’t matter if he leaves that church……..its way too late for that and everyone knows it
this stunt will not change minds.
did he appologies to hillary yet???
We sure need challenge Brazille as uncommitted!
JustMe In Fl can read lips i think
well i hope he was taking notes on what they were saying
vote mcdonald out in WA!!!
I registered as an Independent today. Just placed my voter registration in the mail. I am finished with the corrupt undemocratic party.
birdgal, me too, I have been trying to get on McCain’s blog, it is so behind the times. I am tired of the trying to live with the rulz of a few over the millions!
I think this chairwoman is a clinton supporter?
monday i will be changing my voter registraton to independant and that will also include my sons and my hubby too
confloyd: the blog has actually improved, believe it or not. It needs to be updated more frequently and the site needs to be faster. The colors are better.
this is a dog and pony show, they made their deals behind closed doors
LOL……….they mentioned the ornges!!!
that chair woman looks very pleased with the vote against it
now they are chanting DENVER DENVER DENVER
that seals it, Hillary will definately take this to the convention
What happened? Has there been a decision?
florida 50% deduction each with 1/2 votes including SD’s
oops all delegates with 1/2 votes
Democratic party officials said a party committee agreed Saturday on a compromise to seat Michigan and Florida delegates Saturday after Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton failed to get enough support to force their positions through.
The committee agreed on a compromise offered by the Michigan Democratic Party that would give Clinton 69 delegates and Obama 59. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention in Denver later this summer, according to the deal.
They also agreed to seat the Florida delegation based on the outcome of the January primary, with 105 pledged delegates for Clinton and 67 for Obama, but with each delegate getting half a vote as a penalty.
OOh Can bradzilla chew her gum any more obnoxiously?
That’s from AP.
So, does this mean we can officially count Hillary’s votes from MI and FL?
we are getting fuked on mi
More AP:
Barack Obama has resigned his 20 year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and more recent fiery remarks at the church by another minister.
Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs said Obama had submitted a letter of resignation to the church and would discuss his decision in a session with reporters later Saturday.
It happened “over the last few days,” Gibbs said.
Comments by Wright have inflamed racial tensions and posed an unwanted problem for Obama, front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, as he seeks to wrap up the nomination.
More recently, racially charged remarks from the same pulpit by another pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, has kept the controversy alive and proved the latest thorn in the side of Obama.
Pfleger earlier this month mocked Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as a guest speaker at Obama’s church.
Obama has condemned comments by both Wright and Pfleger, but the controversy has persisted.
ikes says mi being hijaked for obama!
Yes but he better not get any popular vote from Michigan.
Obama resigning from his church, complete and utter political neck saving, I’m not so sure his fellow church goers will be too happy with how he does not want to know them.
are yall watching ickes? thi si history right now guys
REBEL!!!! I will become in Independent just as soon as possible. They are fucking over the people of Florida and Michigan and I think they should rebel as well. To hell with party unity!!!!!!
holy shit
Is Ickes addressing the media?
were goignto credientials says ickes
oh i can’t wait for the youtube of Ickes!!
WeeeDogggies We’re going to DENVER!
he is talking at rbc
t4h, Could you elaborate???
vote out thomas hynes of Il……he’s supporting this motion
What does that mean Credentials committee?
t4h, I was asking why you said holy shit, lol.
I knew Hillary would not let us down, we are going to Denver.
Screw Obama and his freakin’ cheaters!
I think that means it’s appealed to the convention?
this is getting nasty…
This is WAR.
You bet your asses we are going to convention!!!
confloyd……… we need to get our camping reservations
I have never been so ashamed of the democratic party. This election is so rigged.
i said that bc of the room guys. people are screaming for hill to go to denver. hunreds of em shouting tocount their votes. ikes then said hill reserves the right to seat mi at credentials-that mean not 69 59 but 7 for hill, 55 uncomited. ickes said this si a right on the 1st amend. u have this right to be uncommitted and make a choice. history right now. yur kids will ask about this day.
Did Ickes say this is going to the convention?
credntials meets in july. if hll wants to she can challenge all of this. if creds doesnt resolve then its to the floor.
2008 makes 2000 and 2004 look like a game of tiddly winks
Only 7 for Hillary and 55 uncommitted??
no ickes said-hillary reserves the right to appeal this mi vote hijacking as he calls it to creds-creds can lead to the floor etc.. the crowd is wild-count our votes. the party is imploding live.
ickes said givning bambi 59 is not unity. go to cspan.org and watch guys
How the fuck do you give delegates to someone who was not even on the ballot.
mame Rieley is a hill supporter and this is her motion?? WTF!!
vote her out!!
I wonder HOW MUCH THIS COST BAMBI????
mi crime is passed 19-8. crowd going razy in rage
I mean, why has Edwards not go delegates or anyone else who was on the ballot.
owman is rying-how an u, how canu do this to us?
This is just disgusting and the public can see this for what it is.
How do you give delegates to someone not on the ballot. Is this fucking Zimbabwe?
Letting the uncommitted delegates choose who to vote for is the fairest solution. And if they all go to Obama, that’s OK. But they need to make the decision themselves.
BTW, I think the Clinton campaign is really angry at Waffles over his camp pushing the RFK thing and then his failure to apologize to Hillary for Pfleger. I think that situation plays into what Ickes is saying now.
Would Monday be a good day to quit the Dumass party en masse?
well the world got to see what we here say everyday-how obama has torn apart this party and how orrupt it is. how dare obama get deleagtes out of mi when he pulled his name off? this is madness..
henry………..count me in!
What a bunch of Obama Azz lickers. This sickens me. Take it all the way Hill. We’re in it to win it and we will make our haters, our motivators. ON TO DENVER!!!!!!!
The Democratic Party is DEAD.
This is just plain old takeover, roll over, and take it up the ass from Obama.
Ok, its clear now, Hillary roll out the nuclear weapons and dont give a shit about it.
absolutely MOON!
dija
you have a much greater prescence here than I. Monday I will reregister take a pic and send it to dnc. I say get it going if you can. I plan on picking up a ton of forms while I am there.
It over, no more democrats. The freaking idiots gave McCain an victory. I will now go to McCain.
Question: yes it is a bad ruling and legally unsound but isn’t it true that we get full credit for the popular vote in those two states, we are not the ones who have broken faith with the voters, preserved an issue for the convention and the new threshold is not 2025 but 2210 which he cannot achieve? (Sorry, I have been out).
If they dare to give Obama any of that popular vote slice, then i’ll go ballistic.
Well Hillary now has the official popular vote and thats about to get a lot bigger tomorrow.
This is justice, this is affirmative action at its best!!
Ok the new threshold is 2210, is this true?
henry…….I don’t think it will take much effort to get people to change to independant
wbboei……you are correct the numbers did change but with 1/2 votes wouldn’t that effect the number to less than 2210??
Apparently the new threshold is now 2,118.
texan: i cannot get any sound on my computer, is 59-69 off the table? Where does this 7 Hill and 55 uncommited come from?
I don’t care, they are never ever going to give this nomination to Hillary, its so fucking obvious now. The Clintons should leave the Democrats to their demise and create the new Democratic party because the current one is no longer FIT FOR PURPOSE.
I feel so strongly that the Dem party is in the grip of liberal extremists who are willing to take America down.
dija
but everyone doing it on the same day and sending a digital photo with it would speak volumes. Funny that they continuely castigated individuals who spoke out during the hearings claiming that the speakers needed to be heard, the speakers members of the party who are compensated by the voices that they wish to silence– in the audiance as well as the general populace.
This is the begging of the end to November! I can’nt wait to vote for McCain and see MI go for him also.
henry……… i don’t think anything we email, snail mail, say or do will change anything
they mentioned the “gifts” in the mail and mentioned the “oranges” so…….. they have gotten them
the message was sent……….it didn’t matter
henry, the DNC and the party are not interested.
They could care less if we all walked out. The AA faction and liberal activists have taken over in a coup, they will run the party into the ground and nominate every liberal activist they can.
wbboei, I asked the popular vote question, too.
This is something Mugabe would do. Hey I wasnt on the ballot but i deserve 59 delegates for just asking for them.
Talk about the American banana republic.
The only way the DNC will listen, is, to lose in November, but then it will be too late. The Democratic Party on a national level will be over. This is what Rove wanted and got!
Moon/Dija
Well i will refrain from then explaining to the bitter white tax paying law abiding citizens of rural PA that the DNC considers the votes of select counties are more important than thiers. Ooops no I won’t the day the Lady in the pants suit calls it quits I go to work for John MCCain
I guess we will have to put up with another speech from Bambi about his church!
I can’t believe that this committee thinks what happened here today would make us unite behind the fraud!!
I suspect this is not going to go down well at all across the country.
Today the DNC did a great big fuck you at Hillary. They could not have done it plainer than them walking up to her and flipping the bird in her face.
make the democratic party lose the white house, the house, and the senate landslide in November is the only way to tell DNC that a radical left wing is unfit to lead the party.
Has anyone heard anything about the protestors since the meeting has adjourned?
if hillary does not either go to convention or run as a INDY
I plan to vote down the ticket GOP and not only vote for McCAIN…..I will work my ass off and donate to him!!
Obama will make the republicans unite faster than a fat woman with a buffet.
did anyone notice the number of hispanics on the commitee today. the party of inclusion which restructured the primary map in attempt to be more representative and diverse would have definately had a strong latin prescence as they are the largest minority group.
I expect Trinity to be so pissed off at Obama now, that they release tapes themselves of Obama and family in church during some of those racist unpatriotic rants by Wright nodding their heads in agreement.
I had a thought
The silver lining here though, is it possible, that Hillary laid Obama into a trap by seating the delegates now, she legitimises her standing as the popular vote leader.
She knows she can’t win on delegates so perhaps they thought seating the states popular votes was more important and by whipping up the anger against the decision is exactly what we wanted.
dija
i won’t vote down party repub as i am in PA and many stood behind hill but for those that did not I will go repub
Time to start poaching pledged delegates, or knocking some off..
OKAY,
ON TO DENVER !!!!!!!!
HOORAY !!!!!
im bringing my flack jacket LOL…
I respectfully suggest everyone look before they leap. In what little I saw today one gentleman who seemed to be pro-Hillary was joking about how people will surely be switching back and forth between candidates. Maybe they really do know something is in the pipeline. It seems to me Hillary has not been nearly as depressed as I would be under the circumstances.
With the conviction of Rezko next week, something may still come from that. At least that’s what we’ve been counting on.
Sean Hannity claims to have something big on BHO that he refuses to reveal at this time. Who knows when he would release that info? He certainly has no plans to help Hillary, but if it came out in time, there could still be a big shift in delegates before the convention.
I know this sounds far out, but I refuse to give up until Hillary does. Even if she appears to give up within the next couple of weeks, it may still be only a waiting game. Besides, she will still have the same argument for her candidacy she had yesterday.
I will stick around a while.
djia: that is logical but in the absence of authoritative information I really don’t know.
I just heard Obama will be addressing the republican national committee!
The silver lining here though, is it possible, that Hillary laid Obama into a trap by seating the delegates now, she legitimises her standing as the popular vote leader.
She does indeed.
Dear Hillary,
The democratic party that I so loyaly supported all my life has betrayed me. I watched as they sat silently at the ridicule and disgusting remarks you endured, I watched as they destroyed your and Bill’s long record of fighting for civil and human rights. I watched as the media bias overwhelmed my tv screen in opposition to you, I watched the RBC hand 59 delegates to a man that was not on the ballot in MI. I saw first hand the rude and threatening attacks by Obama supporters on the internet blogs. I heard many reports of the intimidation of your supporters at caucuses. I watched 90% of AA vote down racial lines and accuse me of being racist because I supported you. I heard Obama say I was a typical bitter white person and that I clung to my antipathy of others, guns and religion to soothe my frustration. The democratic party has said it does not need me because I am a white middle class worker.
The democratic party is not my party. My party would never tolerate any of this.
To this end if you remain in this party in less capacity than presidential nominee, I will not be able to follow you.
Your loyal supporter,
Debbie
sherm: It seems to me Hillary has not been nearly as depressed as I would be under the circumstances.
———————————————–
which could mean there are more shoes to drop yes indeed.
Obama is the choice of the Chicago mob and the list I am posting is only the list of names brought up at the trial of slumlord Rezko.
BLAGOJEVICH-LEVINE-WINTER-ALI ATA-CARI-RITA REZKO-BECK-MELL-KIFERBAUM-WEINSTEIN-ARAMANDA-PEKIN-HANNON-CELLINI-KELLY-AYERS-ALSAMMARAE-WRIGHT-PFLEGER. wHAT A DISGUSTING BUNCH OF CRIMINALS AND THEY JUST LOVE BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA.
Let us not give up hope.hillary will go to Denver and she will be the candidate.Obama will just remain a black mark on our country’s list of people that have threatend our democratic way of life.
By ABM90 With you forever Hillary.
Obama will be giving a speech at the site if the Rep. Convention Tuesday night, not while the RNC is there.
confloyd, He’s planning to speak at the site of the Repub convention in Minn. I don’t think he’s appearing before the RNC.
Harold Ickes and Tina Flournoy made the following statement this evening:
Today’s results are a victory for the people of Florida who will have a voice in selecting our Party’s nominee and will see its delegates seated at our party’s convention. The decision by the Rules and Bylaws Committee honors the votes that were cast by the people of Florida and allocates the delegates accordingly.
We strongly object to the Committee’s decision to undercut its own rules in seating Michigan’s delegates without reflecting the votes of the people of Michigan.
The Committee awarded to Senator Obama not only the delegates won by Uncommitted, but four of the delegates won by Senator Clinton. This decision violates the bedrock principles of our democracy and our Party.
We reserve the right to challenge this decision before the Credentials Committee and appeal for a fair allocation of Michigan’s delegates that actually reflect the votes as they were cast.
Gerald on Fox just said Hillary will win a motherload of the delegates tomorrow in PR
Hope it ends up 45 to 10
the other silver lining here is…
if the RBC had given hillary everything as she asked…..and she still did not get the delegates and pop vote
she would be forced to drop before convention……..so this most certainly works in her favor as she can now
take it to convention with out any blame on her
larry johnson at noquarter:
****************************************************
Praise the Lord he’s seen the light? After 20 years of apparently sleeping thru Jeremiah Wright’s hatefilled, racist sermons, Barack is calling it quits. Does this include Michelle and the kids? No word yet. Will the kids still be subjected to this hate?
A burning question is why is Barack doing this now? Could it be that since there are no more primaries in states with significant numbers of African Americans he can throw those folks away? Let’s pause to recall what Barack had to say about his church. He spread this brochure throughout the South:
Remember when he said he could not disown Jeremiah?
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
But he did. He tossed away Jeremiah Wright.
Barack told us that “words matter.” We believe him. That is why we remember his words about his new young Pastor?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, the new pastor — the young pastor, Reverend Otis Moss, is a wonderful young pastor.
And as I said, I still very much value the Trinity community.
This — I’ll be honest, this obviously has put strains on that relationship, not because of the members or because of Reverend Moss but because this has become such a spectacle.
I guess we can be sure of one thing. Barack is not a bitter man. Or, at least not a bitter white working class stiff. He surely is not clinging to his religion (and I don’t know about guns).
So where does he go? I guess Michael Pfleger’s Catholic parish is out of the question. Probably should add Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam to that list. Maybe he’ll decide to do with black liberation theology what he has done with cigarettes–publicly swear it off but sneak it on the side.
This does not put to bed the legitimate questions about Barack’s judgment in hanging with this group of haters. Do you remember when he warned black audiences in the South that they were being bamboozled and hoodwinked. Well, he was right. But it turns out he was the bamboozler and hoodwinker in chief. And this is change we should believe in? Suckers!!
Would be hilarious if Hill won by about 500,000 tomorrow, that would wipe his ass of any assertion of a popular vote leads.
Although i hope Hillarys team is prepared for dodgy stuff from Obama’s gov friend there.
As I said earlier, my change in voter registration to Independent, is in the mail. I will donate to Hillary. But, if she is not the nominee, my vote will be for McCain, whom I consider to be less dangerous for our country. I will never, ever, vote for the empty suit and crook.
They gave 4 of Hillary’s MI delegates to Waffles?? That’s pathetic, and should be appealed. Geez.
PR expecting a turnout of anywhere between 1 and 2 million voters tomorrow so every 10% margin of victory adds another 100,000 or 200,000 votes to her lead in the popular vote. Would love a turnout of 2 million with a 30% victory margin.
Wasn’t the role of the SD’s suppose to be the fixers of electorate problems? What bigger problem could there be than a candidate receiving 500,000 more votes than the other candidate and not have the delegate lead?
I am really sick of Obama and all his spiritual advisors. Donna’s little fit must of thrown a big enough fit that everyone agreed to screw Hillary. I still can’t believe the lady that introduced the bill, looks like they wanted a Hillary supporter to do it!
Are they really that stupid to think we are going to vote for this fraud that was given the nomination!
If this Kangaroo court award BO 4 of Hillary’s delegates, what makes you all think the sd’s will give Hillary a second look as far as the popular vote!!
wbboei,
Yes indeed. We will shout when it hits us, yes indeed!
they won’t…….. she needs to go INDY
APPEAL TO DENVER. No way. Today alone in Iowa, a swing state, I talked to a coworker, Aaron, and her mother who are not voting if Obama is nominated. A man that was shopping at our store said the same. And my boss’ mom said the same. In one day in a non-political environment this came up. They are trying to permanently destroy a great candidate. This is a declaration of war by the DNC, and Barack Obama on women and Latinos, make no mistake about it. Other important voting blocks for Hillary are being attacked too, but this is a direct hit at women and Latinos, which made up a majority of Hillary’s support in Florida and Michigan. These, the two largest swing voting blocks, in the nation’s two largest states, people will not forget the attacks. We will not forget the sexism. We will not forget the race baiting and playing the race card. We will not forget “sweetie”. We will not forget today. We will not forget D-Punjab. We will not forget “monster”. We will not forget Glen Close references. I will not forget the homophobia. We will not forget the attackson African American supporters of Hillary. We will not forget the statements by Obama and his wife about having to “think about” voting for Hillary, and he can “get her voters”, but can “she get” his. ENOUGH. We must stand up. This MUST go to the convention.
The source is pure bullshit (AP) but here is what is being reported:
WASHINGTON – Democratic party officials said a committee agreed Saturday on a compromise to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half-votes after Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton failed to get enough support to force their positions through.
The deal was reached after committee members met privately for more than three hours, trying to hammer out a deal, and announced in a raucous hearing that reflected deep divisions within the party. The sticking point was Michigan, where Obama’s name was not on the ballot.
Clinton’s camp insisted Obama shouldn’t get any pledged delegates in Michigan since he chose not to put his name on the ballot, and she should get 73 pledged delegates with 55 uncommitted. Obama’s team insisted the only fair solution was to split the pledged delegates in half between the two campaigns, with 64 each.
The committee agreed on a compromise offered by the Michigan Democratic Party that would split the difference, allowing Clinton to take 69 delegates and Obama 59. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention in Denver this summer, according to the deal.
They also agreed to seat the Florida delegation based on the outcome of the January primary, with 105 pledged delegates for Clinton and 67 for Obama, but with each delegate getting half a vote as a penalty.
The resolution increased the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination to 2,118, leaving Obama 66 delegates short but still within striking distance after the three final primaries are held in the next three days.
Obama picked up a total of 32 delegates in Michigan, including superdelegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including superdelegates, and 56.5 in Florida.
Obama’s total increased to 2,052, and Clinton had 1,877.5, according to The Associated Press calculations.
‘Party of inclusion’
A proposal favored by Clinton that would have fully seated the Florida delegation fully in accordance with the January primary went down with 12 votes in support and 15 against.
Tina Fluornoy, who led Clinton’s efforts to seat both states’ delegations with full voting power, said she was disappointed by the outcome but knew the Clinton position had “no chance” of passing the committee.
“I understand the rules. … I can tell you one thing that has driven these rules was being a party of inclusion,” Fluornoy said. “I wish my colleagues will vote differently.”
The committee unanimously approved a measure supported by the Obama campaign that sat the delegates according to Clinton’s winning vote in the Florida contest, but penalized the delegation by allowing each only half a vote.
“We just blew the election!” a woman in the audience shouted. “This isn’t unity! Count all the votes!” another audience member yelled.
Alice Huffman, a Clinton supporter on the committee, explained that the compromise was the next best thing to full seating. Some audience members heckled her in response. “Lipstick on a pig!” one shouted
BO “michelle and i realized it was going to be too difficult to remain as members of Trinity so long as i was running for president”
so he just admitted it was for political expediencies!!!
An Independent run is a waste of money. The best case scenario, no one has enough electoral votes to win and the House of representatives ends up selecting the President. Let’s face it with all these backstabbers on the campaign trail why would anyone think they would act any differently than they are now? What a nightmare that would be when no candidate can win in the house and they decide to get rid of Pelosi and vote her in as President.
It may end up in the House anyway if Obama is the nominee. Barr wins Georgia and McCain/Obama split the other 49
anyone driving near
sioux city, sioux falls,omaha,desmoines, on their way to denver for the convention??
I would love to drive and hook up somewhere along the way!!
email me at luvcowboys63@yahoo.com
if you would like an private invitation to join a group set up specifically to discuss
the convention travels…….and also to discuss privately about running an ad………so far no conversation has happened on that
but am hopefull more of you will join and get things started.
And I will not forget “I’d like to scratch his eyes out”. No, Obama we will not forget! We will not vote for a candidate that is a fraud and a liar.
Yeah, they trashed our greatest Democratic President since FDR and expect us not to stay home, HAH!
SD Claude “Buddy” Leach (LA) endorses Hillary.
Djia, would you like to meet up some time and get an Iowa group of people against Obama started or something similar? Maybe go to the convention, I have relatives in Littleton Colorado, so no lodging necessary. We are still a swing state.
hi hillfans from work. i missed most of the hearing before work because my wife was in the hospital on a sprained ancle. she is fine. please i hope hillary takes this to the floor of the convention!
I am ready to switch parties, but I am PC so I don’t know if I should. I have made no secret that I HATE him. Hate is a strong word, but I don’t care.
Glad to hear your wife is OK, terrondt.
i think sen nelson-florida did us proud this morning. i caught some of gov. blanchard’s remarks a little on cnn via sirrius radio.
thanks paula. what do ya think. is hillary really going to the convention or will she bow out?
bo…….”i am not interested in denouncing the church i am not interested in the people who want me to denounce the church
I dont think there is anything to denounce the church for”
Hawk……..YES!!
email me
luvcowboys63@yahoo.com
If Obama gets the required delegates, she’ll have to bow out but she can still appeal the MI ruling. Someone needs to stand up for the voters of that important swing state.
Well the good news is that the magic number now is 2117. Once we get to Denver it will be raised back to the original 2209. It is a long time between now and the end of August and a lot more will be uncovered about Obama giving SD’s more to think about.
Paula……..she does not have to “bow out” SD’s dont count till convention, so he would need to hit the number without SD
and that is not possible
bo…….”i am not interested in denouncing the church i am not interested in the people who want me to denounce the church
I dont think there is anything to denounce the church for”
djia
No delegates count until the roll call of states at the convention and any delegate pledged or superdelegate can vote for any candidate they chose to. In other words pledged delegate does not mean they are required to vote for the candidate that they were selected to vote for.
dija, Hillary said this week she expects the nomination to be decided this coming week.
no she said she expected super delegates to come out this week….
We are going to Denver!!!
It is a “Full Tilt Boogie.” Please visit this diary right away:
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/31/203424/754
rjk…… I knew that too…….but Thanks!!
for mentioning it as i am sure there may still be many who did not.
Paula: is that really what she said or did she say that superdelegates would begin to decide after the primaries have concluded? I heard one thing and true to form AP reported something else.
dija, I just assumed that’s the same thing, lol.
BTW, when will we know the results from PR tomorrow?
Hillary having fun in PR.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080531/ap_on_el_pr/clinton
Obama’s decision to resign from his racist church only after it is placed in a public sportlight is like a thief who renounces a life of crime only after they are putting the handcuffs on and reading his miranda warnings. Question: what part of the words too late does he not understand?
Polls close late tomorrow afternoon on the east coast. I think I heard 3 or 4 O’Clock. The big question is how long it takes to count the votes.
Thanks, rjk. Is PR winner take all, or proportional?
proportional
From the sound of it on Fox, Trinity church members feel Obama has thrown them under the bus. Now we just need them to come out and say what Obama heard in those pews proving he is just another lying politician
I would feel used, Obama used this church to gain street cred and now they feel like he just used them for political gain.
See Trinity, he did not give a shit about you.
Hannity coming on and is going to slam Obama with concentration camps and a new professor from Obama’s past.
If is getting awfuly crowded under that bus
Hey, all–
Lets get the Clinton supporters reaction to rules committe outrage on rec list at mydd.
Full Tilt Boogie
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/31/203424/754
Its no longer a bus, its a full on steamroller. There must be a list out there with his friends on it that is rapidly being scratched off like a shopping list.
I mean judging by so far, would you trust Obama to back you up in a life or death situation. Fuck no. Hes your classic fuckwit in a Zombie movie, you are cornered by a zombie and shout for help but instead the fucker bolts out the door and runs as fast he can.
Wow, just saw this from Larry Johnson on No Quarter under Breaking News:
New and dramatic developments. This is a heads up. I’ll post the news Monday morning by 0900 hours. Now I know why people who have seen the videotape say it is stunning. Barack’s headaches are only starting.
“Majority Rules” For Everyone Except The DNC
FYI, LJ’s referring to Michelle’s “whitey” video.
Looks like the shit is about to hit the fan, so is this Hillary is confident, she’s had the tape all along and waiting for the right minute.
Let’s see, Obama will not get the Jewish vote, the Latino vote, the Woman’s vote and probably not the White vote . That tells me the democrats are looking at a 49 state blowout if he is the nominee.
COMMENTATORS GONE WILD:
Could someone confirm the following:
“pledged delegates” (elected by caucus or primary) are what is needed for a candidate to “go over the top” (and we’re still adjusting that bar, now set at over 2,100), that the DNC cannot officially count the mixing in of unpledged delegates (SDs) who have “pledged” for a particular candidate, for two reasons:
a. they officially don’t vote until the convention
b. they can change who they are pledged to, because they are UNPLEDGED.
Obviously, the reason for illuminating the “finish line” is to debunk all the media hype on the “horse race”, and that CNN and MSNBC do not REPORT the news, they CREATE the news. We fully expect the talking heads to persist with their baseless “stories”, that “Five more super delegates could do it…”, and John King “If we pull these numbers over here and give them to Hillary, and give these to Obama, then multiply it by the square root of the distance to the sun divided by pi, and move the finish line up to favor Obama, and mix in the SDs, then we can state that at 8:43pm on June 3rd, Obama has won the nomination”.
Nice try, John King. Thoughtful analysis. Mixed with plenty o’ spin. And faulty premises. Heck of job. Give him his own show.
CNN. It’s not just news. It’s reality TV. Commentators gone wild.
The obama people are refusing to let diary stay on the rec list about Clinton reaction to Rules Committee.
C’mon. Take a second and rec the diary. Hillary deserves to have one diary on he rec list.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/31/203424/754
rec’d it for you linfar (deborah63)
moon, if Hillary has the tape (and I have my doubts she does, though her people I’m sure are well aware it exists) there’s no way she’s going to release it. She’d never do that to a fellow Dem, even Obama. The Repubs are the ones who are going to release it, or someone like Hannity.
The more i think about this, the more I am convinced Obama resigned today from Trinity because something big is about to come down the wire, its just weird, he would never resign before and now suddenly, I’m gone.
Something smells and i bet it has something to do with what Noquarter has got hold off.
I believe she does have it, and she will not be the one to release it directly……..but she has alot of friends
Is this change we can believe in??? More sexist BS from guess who?
An Obama mystery at state meet
By RICK CASEY
Texas Democratic Party Vice Chairwoman Roy LaVerne Brooks is a superdelegate who endorsed Barack Obama in March.
The longtime party activist from Fort Worth is also running to unseat current state party Chairman Boyd Richie.
Imagine her surprise Tuesday when she received a disturbing phone call from a national Obama operative who is part of a group that parachuted into Texas to work on this weekend’s state party convention.
Roy says the operative, Rudy Shank, told her that unless she drops her candidacy to unseat Richie at the state convention she will not be going to the national convention as a superdelegate.
A deal is offered
She said Shank politely told her that “if there was any way I could not run, it would be appreciated because they would like a convention without hurt feelings.”
Shank told her he could make a deal with her. He said Glen Maxey, the former Austin state representative whom the Obama campaign hired as its convention director, told him that if Brooks gave up her vice chairmanship to run against Richie, she would lose her status as superdelegate if she lost.
State chairs and vice chairs are automatically members of the Democratic National Committee, which makes them superdelegates. Brooks’ term as vice chair ends this weekend.
A quiet rule change
Brooks said that was news to her. About 20 years ago, then-Chairman Bob Slagle put in a rule saying that while the election for vice chair would take place at the state convention in June, the term would extend until the end of the national convention. The idea was that the vice chair should be rewarded with a national convention at the end of his or her term, not at the beginning of it.
Houstonian Carl Davis, who served as vice chairman from 1998 to 2000, went as a delegate to the convention in Los Angeles that nominated Al Gore.
“I remember seeing the rule in writing,” he said.
But apparently the rule has been quietly changed in recent years.
Slagle says he recently learned of the change, though he didn’t recall whether the rule was a written one or a “handshake agreement.”
Under the new rule, Brooks would lose her superdelegate status if she fails to unseat Richie. But if she backs out, Richie could name her to one of three “add-on” superdelegate slots.
He is required to nominate at least two people for each of the three seats, to be approved by the nominations committee and then ratified by the convention. Traditionally, the nominations committee approves the chairman’s first choice of delegates.
There are ironies in the request by an Obama operative that Brooks back off the chairman’s race.
One is that she is an African-American. The state Democratic chairman has traditionally been a white male, with an occasional white female slipping in.
Another is that Brooks is casting herself as a “change” from the good ol’ boy system, and Obama’s campaign is all about changing the good ol’ boy system. Brooks’ chances of unseating Richie are enhanced by several thousand change-oriented newcomers who will swell the convention to about triple its normal size.
All of this begs the question: Why would the national Obama campaign involve itself in a state race?
Chairman Richie was not available for comment. Maxey promised to ask Shank to call me, but I didn’t hear from him.
So I can only go with speculation. One possibility is that the Democratic establishment convinced the Obama folks that Brooks would not be a good enough chairwoman to help them if Texas should come into play. She would contend that Richie isn’t a good enough chairman to help.
Another possibility is that a deal has been cut with Richie that could involve both his vote and the votes of the three “add-on” superdelegates.
Do you like conspiracy theories? Thursday night, two nights after Shank made his call to Brooks, Richie announced his endorsement of Obama.
Another possibility involves a “handshake agreement” Slagle put in place in the early 1980s, an agreement that has held ever since. It (accurately) presumed the chairman would be white, and alternates the vice chairmanship and the treasurer’s posts between blacks and Hispanics.
“I think this is the year the vice chair is supposed to rotate back to the Mexican-Americans,” Slagle said. “If it is a Mexican-American it would be for Clinton. There might be an issue there.”
Maybe so, but if they’re worried about losing even one superdelegate, manhandling Brooks may not help.
Brooks said she told Shank she would stay in the race.
“I made the comment that I may need to jump over to Hillary’s side because I’m not going to be treated like a dish rag,” she said.
I asked if she was serious.
“I’m very serious if they keep trying to get me out of the race and I learn that Obama is behind it,” she said.
I agree MOON 100% something smells and is coming around the corner
Paula all’s fair in politics, thats the way it works, we may not like it but thats what happens.
If Hillary has that evidence you can bet she has held it to the last possible minute. Things have a way of getting to the media through other “channels”
You never deliver the knockout blow until its absolutely vital.
You can’t say she didnt give them a chance to be fair but they just spat in her face.
Linfar
the bots are RABID on your diary…….they need to be put in Quarenteed!
left many posts on your diary to counter act
Remember this guys? This is ALL Hussein Obama’s links.
h t t p : / / news.muckety.com/2008/04/25/creator-of-the-infamous-willie-hor ton-ad-sets-his-sights-on-obama/2411
527 ads against Obama
jade……heard that before
I think the far left is organizing to rigg the GE
Wonder why LJ can’t give us the scoop till Monday morning. Don’t know if I can wait that long, lol.
BITTER PEOPLE, CLINGING TO THEIR BALLOTS
# rjk1957 Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Let’s see, Obama will not get the Jewish vote, the Latino vote, the Woman’s vote and probably not the White vote . That tells me the democrats are looking at a 49 state blowout if he is the nominee.
&&&&&
I’ve been saying that with HRC supporters defecting in droves, he’s looking to get a Mondale-like slashing. I was saying “Obama probably would only win his home state”. But aside from its cities, IL is very much a Red state. So I’m not even sure about that state.
As for the defection rate, we’ve seen within the past week that of Dems, 74% would support Obama in Nov., 19% would vote McCain, and 7% would vote for someone or something else.
So 26% of Dems, after all these months of “Getting know you, getting know more about you…”, still don’t like Obama. In fact, his negatives keep getting higher (the latest 53% negative is his worst yet…way to go, O-man).
Since half of Dems support HRC, and half are for BHO, that would mean that you double the defection stats (for Dems overall) to see how many Hillary supporters are ready to punish the party if they proceed to install Obama using this completely unjust set of rules and rulings: that’s right, 38% ready to vote for McCain, and 14% ready to vote for Jerry Garcia or Daffy Duck. (This assumes that 0% of Obama supporters would defect…unless they know something we don’t know).
Now put those stats in yer pipe and smoke it.
How do Dems hold on to California?? Losing Latinos, Asian Americans, GLBT, women, middle/lower-class, and otter-lovers (I love otters, but I am an east coaster).
How do Dems hold on to NJ?
States to completely write off are too numerous to mention, so we’ll just take a breezy sampling: PA, OH, MI, FL, TX, KY, WV.
All those bitter people, clinging to their ballots.
Hannity is a Republican and he knows Hillary will be the stronger candidate, he is waiting for Obama to declare victory along with Dean and Pelosi saying it is over before releasing it, if he has it.
My only reason for thinking that is that the republicans are hoping this will be like 1972 and Eagleton. The democrats never recovered from that fiasco.
djia-
They rigged the primary, why not the GE. This is more evident each passing day.
Hannity is a Republican and he knows Hillary will be the stronger candidate, he is waiting for Obama to declare victory along with Dean and Pelosi saying it is over before releasing it, if he has it.
I agree.
Paula,
I doubt there are any damaged tapes found. But BHO will be toasted by a series ads by GOP’s 527 groups once DNC award the nominee to him. Bill O’reilly said last night, this election will be determined by white independents. I believe that most of the independents will not like a radical leftist to lead this country.
ADMIN please post!!
hillary supporter at the hearing today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KACQuZVAE3s&eurl
I think Monday is the perfect time for us all to change our registration to Independent. If enough of us do this, it will give Hillary another option. But mostly it will scare SDs and Dem leaders that we aren’t buying their ‘unity’ jive and they are buying into a candidate that is splitting the party.
Did anyone in the meeting today (I only watched a few minutes at a time) suggest that caucuses were outmoded, undemocratic and too open to manipulation and should be abolished?? Or is that too sensible for the D (dumb) Party?
Obama is finally leaving his church because it is too embarrassing to be associated with it. It is also too sexist and racist and hate-filled. I feel the same way about the Democratic Party.
djia
I thought that lady was going to have a stroke.
rjk
she’s mad as hell and she ain’t gonna take it any more…………NOT READY TO MAKE NICE! (dixie chicks)
SPINELESS DEMOCRATIC LEADERS: “THANK YOU SIR, MAY i HAVE ANOTHER”
In 2000, we saw tentative actions by Gore and Co. that cost them Florida. They could have pushed for a statewide recount (which they apparently would have won), rather than the 4 allegedly pro-Gore counties, and we know how that turned out. There’s no denying which side pulled out all the stops to ensure victory. In fact, it was so over the top, that it was a coup d’etat.
We Real Dems won’t forget.
In 2006, overcoming Rove’s math, the Dems won. So, let’s take on a lame duck president who’s ratings are in the sewer. No problemo. Except for the wuss factor. When Compromisocrats meet a tyrrant, they demur. “We’re pretty miffed at how Bush had the limo driver run over us, then back up, then run over us again.” We heard the excuses, but the main point is that from a procedural perspective, the Dems have proved too cautious to take the good fight to King W.
In 2008, confronted by Obama & Cabal, (who ARE NOT SEEKING PARTY UNITY, but who are using the Dems to get in Their Guy), we see DNC heads putting their tails between their legs. “Bad dog. Don’t support Hillary, or we’ll take your monetary bone away from you. We’ll make sure you’re in the Dog House when Obama is coronated Emperor”.
Today’s procedings showed the meek Dems giving in to Obama’s ridiculous demands. “We’ll take Hillary’s reasonable position, and Obama’s outrageous position, split ‘em in half, and then we’ll all go next door and have a few beers, and say, What a great unified party are We”.
Party Unity: Mission Accomplished.
Like Kevin Bacon in Animal House, at the frat hazing, “Thank you, sir. May I have another [swack!!!]“.
from a poster on noquarter tonight
CONTACT the Dem Rules Committee Members and make your voice be heard! from Rickie in MA
Donna Brazille
donna@brazileassociates.com
(202) 628-8081
Mark Brewer
mbrewer@mi-democrats.com
(517) 371-5410
Martha Fuller Clark
martha.fulierclark@leg.state.nh.us
(603) 271-6933
Ralph Dawson
rcdawson@fulbriqht.com
(212) 318-3337
Donald Fowler
don@fowlercommunications.com
(803) 799-7550
Carol Khare Fowler
carol@fowlercomm!mications.com
(803) 799-7550
Yvonne Gates
YRG@co.clark.nv.us
(702) 455-0855
Alice Germond
germonda@dnc.orq
(202) 8p3-7183
Jaime A. Gonzalez, Jr
iaime@iaglawfirm.com
(956) 664-0100
Janice Griffin
griffinassoc1@aol.com
(703) 248-1990
Alexis Herman
rramirez@alexisherman.com
(202) 833-8800
Alice Huffman
alicehuffman@sbcglobal.net
(916) 498-1890
Thomas Hynes
thvnes@chapman.com
(312) 845-3272
Harold Ickes
hickes@ickesenright.com
(202) 887-6726
Ben Johnson
hsmjohnson@porternovelli.com
(202) 973-5899
Elaine Kamarck
elaine kamarck@harvard.edu
(617) 495-9002
Allan Katz
allan.katz@akerman.com
(850) 425-1605
Eric Kleinfeld
eric@rpum.com
(202) 293 1177
David T. McDonald
david.mcdonald@klqates.com
(206) 370-7957
Mona Pasquil
monapasQuil@hotmail.com
(916) 567-2945
Mame Reiley
mame@thereileyqroup.com
(703) 370-2891
James Roosevelt, Jr.
iames roosevelt@tufts-health.com
(617) 972-9564
Garry Shay
qss1@aol.com
(818) 502-7503
Elizabeth Smith
Ismith@aft.orq
(202) 879-4436
-\
Michael Steed
rmadison@paladincapqroup.com
(202) 595-2960
Sharon Stroschein
stroschein@nrctv.com
(605) 226-3440
Sarah Swisher
seiusarah@msn.com
(319) 530-8364
Ewards Ward
eward@dot.state.nc.us
(919) 733-2520
Jerome Wiley Segovia
jerome@puente-Iatino.com
(202) 360-3801
Obama is still saying the new preacher is a good man, well wasn’t he the one that invited the Father up to say what he did? The Rev. stood there and jived with the rest of the people. How could he say that?
# moononpluto Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 9:48 pm
The more i think about this, the more I am convinced Obama resigned today from Trinity because something big is about to come down the wire, its just weird, he would never resign before and now suddenly, I’m gone. Something smells and i bet it has something to do with what Noquarter has got hold off.
&&&&&
It might be due solely to tamp down the fire of the latest Pfleger controversy.
But with Obama, the skeletons keep falling out of the closet. And it’s not just a regular closets. It’s a walk-in closet the size of Paris Hilton’s.
And when Pfleger was finished the new preacher was effusive in his thanks. Something like “Thanks for the message and thanks for the messenger”.
You have to admit that the one thing that’s true about this church is that they are consistent.
is “closet” is the rezko bought house!!!
rgb44hrc: “A walk-in closet” made me laugh. Good description!
To the DNC:
As Ricky Nelson sang in “I’m Walking”
I’m walking, yes indeed I’m talking
For you and me and I’m hoping
That you’ll come back to me
I’m lonely as I can be
And I’ve waited for your company
And I’m hoping that you’ll come back to me
Whatcha gonna do when the well runs dry
TUCC allegations by Pastor Manning (in Harlem) is that Wright and Obama had much more than a “father-son” relationship. That may go a long way in explaining why BHO stayed at this church for twenty years. Also, allegations about Obama and murdered TUCC choir director Donald Young (on the eve of the Iowas caucus) being lovers are founded on more than rumors according to Manning and Larry SInclair. Sinclair was contacted by Young before his murder, on phone numbers Sinclair had furnished to The Obama campaign.
By denouncing TUCC, while not “denouncing” TUCC, Obama has cleared the way to make the argument that any allegations now from church members or others aware of BHO’s secret life are made up lies due to anger over leaving the church, and just sheer retaliation. Give the American public more credit than to fall for any of this bogus departure from the church. It may have to do with Wright being bought off with the $10 million credit line.
The DNC could have done so much today. They could have invigorated FL and MI and could have gone a long way in the eyes of Hillary supporters. Instead they crapped out.
What time do the polls open in Puerto Rico, does anyone know?
Brazille needs to be taken off CNN! All of her comments were off the wall and down right hatefilled! Where does she live, maybe she goes to TUCC!
Brazille said if the superdelegates decide the nominee she would resign from the DNC. So, Donna when will be seeing your letter of resignation?
go vote on the cnn.com poll
Is the Democratic Party committee’s decision on Florida and Michigan sufficient to settle the issue?
Yes 55% 4060
No 45% 3270
Total Votes: 7330
Here’s another:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH92E5vWrjk
rjk1957, do you think NJ will go to Mccain in Nov. if BHO gets the nominee?
Hillbillylover, those are terrible bruises on that ladies arms! If I were her I would file against the people that did that to her. There is no excuse to manhandle anyone! JUst imagine if that would have happened to an Obama supporter, the news and lawyers would be all over it!
meiyingsu
It will be close, there is a large retired military block and the only reason Obama made the primary close was the large AA communities in North Jersey. Voters have a habit of surprising, they have elected Republican Governors. The state went republican in presdiential elections from 1968 to 1988 and democrats have won since Bill won in 1992 and I have a strong feeling they may be ready for a change and go republican again. If it does to will take several presidential elections to get them back.
OK, so now the Democrats are officially counting me as 5/10 of a person and my vote may be among those that they handed over to Obambi. Hell yes, they should appeal this!
This has been a most disgusting day. I hope this doesn’t suppress the vote PR! I am still mad at that nasty Brillohead!
Jen the Michigander
They are only counting you as half a person and may have to give your first born to Obama to make him happy.
Puerto Rico needs to be HRC’s Exclamation Point! By all means, I pray that Puerto Ricans turn out in record numbers, more in defiance of the crooked DNC Committee.
The topping on the cake would be a turnout of 2 million with Hillary getting 75% of the vote and winning by 1 million votes. Unlikely, but this year who the hell knows…..
after today, it’s not out of the question
I am sure PR was watching the RBC today
Just sent off a nice thank you email to Harold Ickes. I’m sure he’s had a rough day and I thought he might like hearing from someone who is 100 percent on his side.
i wonder how the new pastor and today will effect sd and mt tues?
texan4hillary
The only problem is that the average voter did not watch cspan today and have the opportunity to see Wexler make a fool of himself or how well spoken and clear those speaking on behalf of the Clinton campaign were.
rjk, but the super delegates did
it’s not about the voters anymore (not that it ever was)
Anyone hear, that the popular vote in MI, might not be credited to Hillary?
Michigan popular vote will not matter Hillary will still have the popular vote lead without it once Puerto Rico votes today. I almost sound like Obama and the DNC “Michigan will not matter”
If anyone wants to see the effect the DNC decisions are having on the party just go over and check out John McCains blog. They are welcoming a huge influx of us Hillary supporters. Someone should send a link to Howard Dean and the Obama campaign. Obama thinks we are all going to support him..think again…
RNC can really put the fear of death into the DNC by releasing fund raising totals for the first 24 hours after the decision about FL and MI today. I am sure them have seen a huge jump.
I think noquarter might have been hacked.
why hillbill?
unity!
Hastings boycotting Democratic convention
At least one high-profile Florida Democrat is not ready to set aside the dispute with the national party: U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Miramar said he would skip the nominating convention in Denver.
Here’s his statement, a dramatic commentary on the right to vote by a black congressman:
It is with reluctance and disappointment that I accept the DNC’s decision today. I do so not because I agree with the decision but because it is time for us to move on and focus on winning in November.
I applaud Karen Thurman and the Florida Democratic Party, Robert Wexler, Bill Nelson and others who represented our state and the candidates for doing the best they could with a bad situation.
Florida Democrats have been serially abused and the DNC is the latest of offenders. How the DNC has the authority to ignore the votes of ‘Jack and Jane Lunch Bucket’ is beyond my understanding. The insiders who actively sought to disillusion and disenfranchise the more than 1.75 million Florida Democrats who voted on January 29 give new meaning to collective arrogance.
The DNC’s decision today ignores the core principle of our great democracy: the right to vote. I know that the 1.75 million Democrats who voted on January 29 count and don’t give a damn what the DNC rules pronounce.
Going to a party’s convention is a privilege. Courts have said that political parties have a right to make their rules. In this case, the DNC has chosen to take away that privilege from people who I believe have earned the right to participate in the National Convention in Denver with a full vote. As Americans, we should never insinuate or give vent to taking away the constitutional, time honored, died for, and cherished rights of voters from any state. Yet that is what today’s decision has done to the people of
Florida and Michigan.
I suppose the DNC has the right to block Democrats in Florida from attending the National Convention. They also have the right to be stupid, and stupid they are.
At the beginning of our great country’s history my ancestors were counted as only 2/3 of a person. Until passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, they weren’t allowed to vote. During that same time and until 1920, women could not vote. White men who did not own property could not vote at one point in our history as well.
Now, on May 31, 2008, a group of elitist insiders of the DNC have effectively said that some of my ancestors’ progeny equal only 1/2 and that men and women in Florida who voted on January 29th are 1/2 also. For a Party which will crown its historic nominee on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, the DNC’s decision today is tragically ironic.
As a matter of protest, I do not intend to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Despite all of this, too much is at stake this November. I refuse to allow those who have done me and my constituents wrong to stop us from taking back our country. Together, we will do whatever it takes to increase our majority in the House and Senate and win the Presidency.
While I cannot speak for others, I do not intend to take any further legal action against the DNC. If I believed that we could win, believe me, I would act and so would others. But based on case history, it is an uphill battle screaming for a change in federal law.
I will, however, spend enormous energy on convincing my colleagues in Congress that we must create a rotating regional Presidential primary system. 30 political insiders – nearly all of whom ain’t ever been elected to a damn thing in their lives – must never again have the ability to reject the will of and unilaterally disenfranchise 1.75 million voters.
This election is bigger than Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton. It is certainly bigger than the DNC. There are over 46 million Americans who are uninsured, gas and energy costs are spiraling out of control, America’s economy is faltering, and U.S. troops are dying nearly every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will take the energy and resources of all of us to fix these problems and the others facing our nation.
As Florida voters have demonstrated time and time again, we will rise above those who have sought to silence our voices and vote big and win in November.
http://www.miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2008/05/hastings-boycot.html
That would be something… if all of Hillary’s delegates did not attend the convention.. So much for party unity.
It’s WAR!!!
They want us to sit down and shut up but that is how you lose the war. Keep on fighting and don’t let them take you for granted this is OUR country and OUR sons and daughters going into the military, not the elites or the well connected.
NEVER SURRENDER….ALL or DENVER!
American Gal: You are absolutely right, about McCain’s site. They are very welcoming, even though they may not agree with Hillary’s politics, they respect her tenacity and strength. They are so much more mature than the bots. I first went over there, about a month ago, and the site has really improved. There is work to be done, but it is better, than what it was. Imagine, bots on McCain’s site. Unbelievable, but the McCain supporters can really put them in their place.
30 political insiders – nearly all of whom ain’t ever been elected to a damn thing in their lives – must never again have the ability to reject the will of and unilaterally disenfranchise 1.75 million voters.
————————-
Those who can, do. Those who can’t — get on the RBC.
Carby, it is war. The DNC has officially made it so.
I’m so livid. For those who don’t plan to vote for Obama, don’t stay home. Vote McCain. Not voting is essentially a vote for Obama.
Let’s defeat this bastard in November.
american girl,
i never thought i’ld say this…
but what is the address for john mccains blog?
I go to noquarterusa.net and they have a white page up that says “It Worked!”
Anyone else getting that?
Uhh…I’m not so sure Alcee staying home is a good thing. Doesn’t Hill need all the delegates she can get at the convention?
Alcee Hasting is a tool…the party IS not bigger then the people of this country and for the Democratic Party to flip their values for Obama is the begining of the end of the democratic party.
Not because of race BUT because of how it was done….this has been the most low down dirty corrupted Chicago tactics ever in my life seen on the national level. If you think Chicago politics is bad…then think about it on a national level.
Already the weak and the lame have caved into Obama strong arm tactics and want us to kiss his ring and bowed down the this travesty. But what it’s really about is Obama power hunger self and the rest of those moron in the DNC and Democratic party who has taken our votes for granted by throwing out crumbs at our feet and like dumb pigeons we will peck away at those crumbs.
It’s our own fault that the DNC and Democratic elites think so lowly of us because time and time again we will settle for the crumbs thrown at our feet.
Texans4Hillary, is Alcee Hastings a Clinton supporter?
linfar Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 9:28 pm
The obama people are refusing to let diary stay on the rec list about Clinton reaction to Rules Committee.
C’mon. Take a second and rec the diary. Hillary deserves to have one diary on he rec list.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/31/203424/754
=====================================
ndI’m banned at mydd. I hope you’ll post the diary at clintondems.com and some other pro-hil sites such as
h t t p : / / hillarysbloggers.soapblox.net/ Then you or someone could put a link to it from taylormarsh Hot Topics.
rgb44,
The magic number (was 2025, now 2100+something) at the convention can be any combination of pledged and superdelegates. This year no one can win it on pledged alone because the pledged are too evenly split; so it will have to be a combination.
So at the convention we count both pledged and unpledged, all 4000+ delegates, to see who gets the magic number.
However right now, it makes sense for the news to make that distinction. If enough supers declare for a candidate right now to put him over the top, of course he will claim victory. But the supers’ support is ’soft’ because they don’t actualy vote till August and are free to change their minds back and forth any time till then.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Decisions, Decisions
The spousal unit is off getting the ingredients for mojitos at the moment, and I’m reflecting on the events of the day. We followed the live blog of the meeting via TalkLeft (which appears to be crashing under server load at the moment – give it some time) plus Marc Ambinder’s blogging of it. There are a lot of tea leaves at the bottom of the cup.
The 50% solution for Florida was disappointing, but not the worst that could happen. They still get added into the total votes needed, Hillary is able to formally count the popular vote there as part of her total, Floridians will support her in the fall and will punish Obama.
The solution for Michigan is thoroughly bad news for Obama. The state’s popular vote is legitmated, allowing Hillary to claim it, the 50% penalty removes “teh rulz!” as a talking point weapon (as it does with Florida) (note to FITH Obama trolls – the rulz have officially changed so you can stfu now), and the squabble over a mere 4 pledged delegates indicates that they are worried about the delegate count, enough so that they would reassign votes to try to force their way through.
Speaking with my political scientist hat on, penalizing the states’ delegations by reducing the impact of their votes may vex Clinton supporters, but it is within the powers of the DNC to do so. The reasons for the penalty (to tilt the win in favor of one candidate) and the context of the penalty (failing to penalize other states who committed similar infractions) and in the case of Florida, refusing to take into account the extentuating circumstances of Republican interference with the timing of the vote are elements that will provide grist for dozens if not hundreds of Poli. Sci. PhD dissertations in the years to come, but the power itself is within the charter of the organization and the appropriate committee(s).
Taking away delegates from Hillary and handing them to Obama, however, is not within their purview, and this will come back to bite them in the ass. First, as I said above, it indicates that the internal count of the Obama delegates is weaker than they claim. Four delegates should not make that big a difference, yet they obviously do even with the count reduced by the 50% rule. There is no other rational reason to force this misallocation for such a small number of delegates, given the blowback that will occur. Of course, given what we have seen of the Obama campaign, stupidity, arrogance and an inability to resist trying to humiliate an opponent are hallmarks of their operation. Whether or not Hillary can capitalize on this for the convention, rest assured that the Republicans will do so for the general election, even if Hillary is the nominee. The Party has deliberately reapportioned the outcome of an official and certified election. They may have had the power to deny seats to the resulting delegation at all, allow seats but no votes, allow votes but reduced by a percentage, or seat them with 100% voting privileges, but they do not have the power to modify the allocation of delegates within the delegation.
Doffing the poli sci hat, the joint announcement of the decsion of the RBC and of Obama’s resignation from TUCC says put a fork in him, he’s done. The question for me was whether he hoped the attention on the committee would keep people from noticing the church announcement (if yes, it failed), or whether the church announcement was a distraction from the committee announcement, which sounds more likely to me. Better a focus on the scandal which the campaign will try to spin as a strength, than on the committee hearings, which exposed to the full light of day the manipulation of delegates to favor a candidate in decline.
Blanchard was phenomenal in the hearings, and very clearly made the case that Obama had maneuvered himself out of delegate support in Michigan. Brazille looked and sounded like a mean-spirited jerk through the entire thing, Wexler was a buffoon, and someone must have gotten to the Obama contingent at lunch and told them how bad it looked for them. I hazard a guess that is why the meeting did not reconvene on time, though that is also when the TUCC announcement was made, so there are more explanations than outcomes.
The reason I am concerned about the battle over the four Michigan delegate votes is because there is no valid procedure for that reallocation, and alleged Democrat “vote fixing” is one of the Republicans’ standard arguments against the Democrats. It is used to push through restrictive voter ID and onerous voter registration rules, and it is used as an excuse to purge voter rolls and install thugs at voting palces to “discourage voter fraud”. It is used deliberately to undermine minority voting in Democratic districts, and the Republicans will gleefully seize on this one very egregious act of disenfranchisement to serve up a toxic mix of racism – see what happens when “those people” (i.e., non-whites, in this case AAs, but also applied to Hispanics and Asians) start calling the voting shots? They just rearrange things to promote one of “their own kind.”
Why is this a really bad thing in the current election cycle? Because the new issue on the Republicans’ radar is Affirmative Action. (Gee, I wonder why they picked that theme?) There will be state measures on the ballot in Colorado, Nebraska and Missouri, just to name a few states where Obama is allegedly competitive. Add this crude and blatent vote manipulation to the mix, and the Republicans now have a big campaign issue handed to them on a silver platter.
As for the TUCC decision, this is another example of Obama’s bad judgment, wanting to have his cake and eat it, too. He wants to be considered a unifying figure, yet hang out with trash-talking divisive people who scorn the people whose votes will decide the election. When he finally has it shoved in his face that he can’t have both, he jettisons the friends in a public way that does not resolve the issues that association raised in the first place. I’m not as incensed about the bullshit spewed by the various preachers at TUCC as other people are. I’m really not into beating people up for personal associations. The political deals cut with Rezko bother me far more. However, what matters here is the stupidity of thinking that these associations would not be made into political issues, and the lack of preparation in creating distance between himself and TUCC, Rezko or Ayers/Dohrn when it should have been done. Cynical? Sure, but accurate. It’s the same way I look at Bill Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky; that he had an affair is not my business, that he had one when he was under scrutiny and it damaged both him and the party sure as hell is my business.
The Obamacan faction of the party has made its decision today: it is more important to claim the nomination than to win in November. That is where their priorities lie. Hillary may or may not be able to convince enough super delegates to give her the nomination, but it is clear what the decision before the party is.
Do we retreat and allow the coup to roll on, or do we fight back for the future of the party?
Anglachel
http://www.anglachelg.blogspot.com/2008/05/decisions-decisions.html#links
I love Harold Ickes.
Paula Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
If Obama gets the required delegates, she’ll have to bow out
He can’t get 2117 (or even 2025) without some supers, whose support is not firm till Denver.
She doesn’t have to bow out in any case. Edwards just ’suspended’ his campaign months ago, he hasn’t really ‘bowed out’. There’s nothing to stop her going on campaigning full volume if she wants to. Or she could relax a little after the primaries, let the GOP go after Obama undistracted for a while.
She will still be put in nomination at the convention, and some undecided supers will break, and maybe other supers will switch to her.
See http://www.ironmyvote.com/superdelegates-follow.htm for quotes from some undecideds about waiting till August.
hillbilly,
i’ve been on noquarter all night, works fine.
this will piss you all off even more!!…….sorry but we need to be informed.
Obama had the votes for 50-50 MI split
Posted: Saturday, May 31, 2008 8:01 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: 2008, Obama, Michigan
From NBC’s Chuck Todd
Per multiple sources inside the closed Rules and Bylaws Committee lunch, Obama actually had the votes to get a 50-50 delegate split out of Michigan — but by just a vote or two.
However, it was decided to go with the 69-59 split to win a larger majority. That measure passed 19-8.
*** UPDATE *** Also, according to those with knowledge of the Michigan agreement, it is fair to claim Clinton the winner of Michigan. But they caution against counting her popular vote in the state.
and now i find this…….. man i am so f’n pissed off!!
The deal reached, NBC NEWS has learned, is a 69-59 split with half votes in Michigan. Obama will be guaranteed the two add-on superdelegates. NBC NEWS has not confirmed if the superdelegates will get half or full votes.
69-59…….UGHHHHH! I have had it.I am ready for Denver.
Harriet Christian, the lady from the meeting today thrown out, where ever you are, God bless you.
Texan, thanks for the Anglachel piece. It was masterful analysis.
djia, this decision really is the stick that broke the camel’s back. Unity? What unity? I called a guy who was in town for the protest and while he is normally a very gregarious person, he was just so glum that I felt guilty keeping him on the line.
well this is depressing as hell, but i post it because, this should galvaniz the party to do anything at all costs to get rid of obama…
our nuclear option: vote mccain…
***********By Craig Crawford
Make no mistake about it. The decision rendered today by the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel showed that Barack Obama has displaced Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as boss of the party.
The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee gave Obama exactly what he wanted – a firm decision on seating Florida and Michigan delegates. Even though Clinton wins a small net gain in nominating delegates, it is not enough to seriously boost her chances for the nomination.
No decision would have best served Clinton today. Her nomination hopes are dependent on a chaos theory, which would have been best supported by keeping the status of Florida and Michigan in limbo.
Losing what they needed today proves that for the first time in 16 years the Clintons are no longer in charge of the Democratic Party. There is a new boss in town.
********************************
the dnc crowned their guy, why?
i guess thats a question we really have no clear answers to..
who hates the clintons so much and why?
i think when there is a federal investigation, into this campaign, we may find out some answers…
when do we start calling for an investigation, anyone know?
okie?
Arlen Spector?
Dear Chairman Roosevelt
Like many traditional democrats I am deeply disappointed with the decision rendered by your committee with respect to Michigan. We cannot understand how you could: i) strip votes from someone who earned them, ii) award votes to someone who is not on the ballot and iii) invalidate the popular vote as well. Let us at least be clear that this was not a compromise. It
was a forfeiture.
This improvident decision violates the bedrock principles of our democracy. It serves to disenfranchise 600,000 Democratic voters. And it causes centrist Democrats like myself to conclude that the Party no longer represents their interests. How ironic since its stated objective was to promote unity.
WB
I am sure Harriet will be a guest on Fox. Greta has the youtube video up on her site.
A Partial Victory
Posted at 12:33 am under Uncategorized
Notice something today? The media are calling it a “blow to Hillary,” and by evening time, ignoring the decision altogether. This is wrong.
Yes, the DNC is fucking with your vote, but come on, at least we are in the game! Today, the Obama menses got bloody. Yesterday he announced that he had the “pledged delegate majority” – today, poop in his pants For months Ossamite-kooks have been ranting on how FL and MI would not count. Not count at all – because of RULES. Bloodied noses now – their ignorance only expiated through an equally ignorant but brutally vicious and inane media.
The reality of today’s decision is not bad for Clinton at all. It may not be the best scenario, but it is not bad. Hussein0 loses more face, than we do. Both Florida and Michigan are recognized entirely. (The theft of four Michigan delegates, will I am sure, be eventually rectified) Even with skewered votes, remember – both Clinton and Hussein- reserve the right to recognize both states vote “fully” at the Convention.
Clinton will clearly recognize the full vote of the FL and MI delegations at the Convention, and Obama is likely to do the same. Yes, there is something profoundly wrong with having a Candidate recognize a delegation, instead of a delegation recognizing a candidate, but keep in mind, if both Hussein and Clinton recognize a full-fledged FL and MI convention vote, FL and MI will have their full fledged vote at the Convention!
There are details left, which the Clinton camp will rightfully continue to challenge, and press against – until they are emendated. But the popular vote from both Florida and Michigan has now been given full legitimacy. That’s serious progress, and the media better pay attention.
Also not to be overlooked, is that with a raised pledged majority count, Turd0 will not be able to secure it. He would need to lose by a small margin in Puerto Rico and with a blow it out in South Dakota and Montana, and neither is likely to happen. He needs 66 delegates out of a total of 86, from three states. This means he needs to secure 76% the upcoming delegate votes. IMPOSSIBLE. He can come close… but close won’t be good enough. Wonderboy who danced about with “majority of delegates” is just going to look stupid.
Without a pledged majority in the delegate vote, Hussein is ending the Primary season with fewer arguments to convince superdelegates of his “Victory.” Clinton’s argument, to focus on the popular vote, will gain in stature.
Yes, a FL and MI delegation with 1/2 vote increases the number of superdelegates Clinton needs to secure the nomination, but as long as we win the popular vote by at least 100,000 we can plod onto Denver on solid footing.
Today’s ruling is proof that the FL and MI vote has never been about rules – its always been about a single man – David Axelrod, and a single half-man/half-pure-excrement who fail to grasp the basics of Democracy because the latter was raised on the anti-pluralist poison of Malcolm X, Stokey Carmichael, James Cone, and Farrakhan, which is reflected in his passion for anti-Democratic twerps and idiots like Ahmenidejad, Ayers, Wright, etc.
Of course Clinton and her supporters will not settle for the 1/2 vote of the Florida and Michigan delegations, but the direction of our progress is clear – and we know what we are fighting for, and where. Big wars are won with victories at the margin. And we just had one – tomorrow, another.
http://www.stop-obama.org/?p=483#more-483
I watched,listened and I cried.We the people(you me all of us) have allowed this to happen to our country.He fooled us again and again and again and we have been frozen in our tracks by the RACIST TAG that he has been waving since coming out of AFRICA.The political surgeons in his campaign are the best of the worst that mony can buy and all they needed was the large stupid an mesmerized idolaters that followed and kissed his robes.He is the second coming of AMIE SEMPLE McPHERSON and ELMER GANTRY all rolled up in the image of the BLACK MESSIAH and the HERO of the MUSLIM world.AMERICA YOU ARE BEING HAD.THe MSM has promoted,supported and sustained this BIG BLACK BLOT on our image around the world.It is still not too late to stop this REAL DAY OF INFAMY.PEARL HARMOR was a walk thru the park compared to what is happening to our great country.BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA and his followers are THE ENEMY WITHIN.
I never beleived over my 90 yrs and my 4 years of WWII combat,that this could ever happen to our precious AMERICA.That losy housepainter did it in Germany with the help of the state controlled MSM.The big difference now is that the MSM now controls us.Just stop and think of the injustice that we imposed on the poor and friendly Japanese families when we placed them in our concentration camps for just being here in the land of the free.IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN-TO US.
HILLARY needs our support more than ever before.There is no other person with so much to give to our country.Take a good look at the the bunch in the DNC at the table yesterday and be aware of what is waiting for us.I call them ALI BAMA and his FORTY THEIVES.
Don’t forget to log on to NOQUARTER at 9 am monay for the Michelle “WHITEY Tapes”.Could be interesting and the reason that BO divorced Trinity yesterday.
By ABM90
Protesters at the RBC meeting (found at TM)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DesyhrRYtB0&eurl
here’s a couple more!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aKVqCkCLm8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9V5NU6HuK0
Its pretty sad to open up the news and see this:
Hillary Defiant Against Party Leaders (why couldnt it be, Hillary Continues Her Fight for Nomination)
and
Obama Quits His Church (why couldn’t it be, Obama Finally Quits Church After Years-long of Controversy)
Clinton’s backers: We won’t ‘roll over’
Sean Lengell (Contact)
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Democratic Party risks the defection of many supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton unless it settles the Florida and Michigan primary fracas to their satisfaction, said protesters at pro-Clinton rallies in Washington yesterday.
“I refuse to be associated with a party that is stupid, self-destructive and undemocratic, and now, I’m beginning to realize, is misogynistic,” said Norma Broude, an American University professor who was among more than 1,000 Clinton supporters at a “count the vote” rally at Rock Creek Park.
Friend and fellow American University professor Mary Garrard agreed, saying that she will not vote for Mrs. Clinton’s rival, Sen. Barack Obama, if he receives the party’s presidential nomination.
“The Democratic Party has disdained the female demographic, they have demeaned Hillary Clinton, and this time we’re not going to roll over,” Ms. Garrard said.
As the pro-Clinton contingent, which was largely female but racially and generationally mixed, rallied in the park, Democratic leaders were gathered a few blocks away at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel to decide the fate of the combined 313 disqualified delegates from Florida and Michigan, and, in turn, the fate of Mrs. Clinton’s long-shot chance of overcoming Mr. Obama’s delegate lead.
Democratic leadership disqualified the delegates and barred them from attending the party’s August convention in Denver as punishment for the states moving their primaries ahead of Feb. 5 – a violation of party rules. They decided last night to award half-votes to each state’s delegates and apportion the delegates to the two candidates in a ratio that did not satisfy the Clinton team.
*protestor video here*
H t t p : / / link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1459208140/bclid1454906906/bctid1582123055
Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times Marsha Deane, of Alexandria, pumps her fist, while David Petrella, of Cleveland, waves the American flag outside the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, as the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel meets to consider the seating of Florida and Michigan delegations.
Mrs. Clinton, who has virtually no chance of winning the nomination without major boosts from those states, has pushed hard for full delegations to be reinstated. She won both contests, although her rival removed his name from the Michigan ballot. Both candidates also agreed not to campaign in either state.
As the committee announced its decisions, Clinton supporters in the room angrily shouted “Count all the votes!” and “This isn’t fair!”
“This is not the Democratic Party. The Republicans are the ones that disenfranchise the voters,” shouted one man while thrusting his fist in the air.
“You stripped me of my vote. How dare you,” shouted a woman from the balcony.
After the meeting adjourned, Clinton backer Michele Thomas accused Democratic leaders of “fixing” the primary results in favor of Mr. Obama, and said she will leave the party.
“The Democratic Party turned its back on us, and now we’re going to turn our backs on them,” said Ms. Thomas, who traveled from her home in Los Angeles to attend the hearing.
Polls of Democratic primary voters also suggest that many Clinton supporters would not support Mr. Obama in November against the Republican nominee-in-waiting Sen. John McCain.
Surveys of Clinton voters in recent primary states have shown that 26 percent to 36 percent, depending on the state, say they would back Mr. McCain over Mr. Obama in the general election, while just 10 percent to 18 percent of Obama supporters say they would prefer the Republican to the other Democrat in November.
Elaine Fenwick, of Bend, Ore., makes clear her position on the issue, which has divided supporters of Democratic presidential rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
Gallup tracking reports from May 23 through May 28 showed Mrs. Clinton consistently running three to five percentage points ahead of Mr. McCain. Over the same period, Mr. Obama fared no better than a tie with the Republican senator.
“Hillary is obviously better positioned to beat McCain than Obama,” Ms. Garrard said.
Constanta Nour-Hinkle of Reading, Pa., who was one of a few hundred Clinton supporters who protested outside the Marriott, said she is a lifelong Democrat, but would not vote for Mr. Obama for president.
“It would be the first time in my life I would vote Republican for president,” said Mrs. Nour-Hinkle, 35. “I think Obama is an empty shirt, the same as [President] George W. Bush, but only a Democrat.”
John Overton, who shouted pro-Clinton slogans outside the hotel, said he would leave the party if Mr. Obama receives the Democratic nomination for president.
“I can’t stand for the Democratic Party if they don&